Men, women and children disarm in MODEL stronghold

Men women and child fighters from the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) lined up peacefully to hand in their weapons on Tuesday as the UN peacekeepers opened a second disarmament camp in the port city of Buchanan. “We want peace, we want peace! No more war, no more war!” chanted the former combatants as they gathered in the streets of Buchanan on their way to the specially constructed cantonment site. “I gave my guns because I do not want to fight any more” said Melissa Smith, a 14 year-old girl soldier who looked pleased to have handed over her AK47 assault rifle to Bangladeshi peacekeepers. Dressed in cut off jeans, flip-flops and a bright red blouse, Melissa said she was forcibly recruited into fighting for MODEL last July while living in a refugee camp in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire. Her friend, a 16-year-old girl-fighter who would only give her name as Elizabeth, looked to the future. “Now after disarming I’m going back to my family to begin a new life and to beg my neighbours, the people in my community, for forgiveness,” she said. Elizabeth told IRIN she was caught in the cross-fire in early August after MODEL forces moved into Buchanan, a once prosperous port city 120 km southeast of Monrovia. Picking up a gun and joining the MODEL fighters was the only way that she could stay alive, she added. Officials of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) who were overseeing the surrender of weapons, said 230 fighters had registered by mid-afternoon – close to the 250 daily quota. Following a false start last December, UNMIL resumed its programme to disarm an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 former combatants last week in the northern city of Gbarnga, a stronghold of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement. By the end of April, two more cantonment sites are due to open. One at VOA on the outskirts of Monrovia will cater mainly for fighters loyal to former president Charles Taylor. The other at Tubmanburg, 60 km north of the capital, is targeted principally at LURD combatants. The MODEL troops in Buchanan appeared eager to disarm, eight months after a peace agreement which ended 14 years of near constant civil war in Liberia. “Our fighters are in high gear to disarm to UNMIL, the war is over and we want to live a better life,” said Samuel Tarpeh, MODEL’s disarmament co-ordinator. He predicted that over 3,000 MODEL fighters in Buchanan would be disarmed in less than two weeks. MODEL’s General Kai Farley, spoke to IRIN and claimed that his movement had 15,000 fighters spread throughout southeastern Liberia. UNMIL officials have hinted that more cantonment centres could be built in MODEL territory, including one in Zwedru, a town in near the Cote d’Ivoire border. However, no details have been given. Nigerian naval captain James Akinwale, one of UNMIL’s senior military observers, said the MODEL fighters were bringing forward the usual range of light weaponry used in African bush wars. “The fighters are handing over serviceable weapons like AK47s, rocket propelled grenades and pistols,” Akinwale said, adding that he was impressed with the MODEL turnout. MODEL was founded just over a year ago as an offshoot from LURD. According to diplomats MODEL received strong support from Cote d’Ivoire. By the time a peace agreement was signed last August, it had overrun most of southern and eastern Liberia. MODEL captured Buchanan from Taylor’s forces just three weeks before a ceasefire was declared.