Burglars rob Taylor’s country home

Armed men wearing black masks recently robbed President Charles Taylor’s residence in Gbarnga, central Liberia, taking a generator and other valuables, news organisations reported on Monday. ‘The News’, a Liberian daily, said the men, alleged to be former combatants of Taylor’s disbanded National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), reportedly carried assault rifles during the attack, according to PANA. The paper also quoted local residents as saying that criminals had recently been burgling private residences and institutions, including the Catholic mission compound which the NPFL occupied during much of the eight-year civil war that ended in 1997. There are an estimated 35,000-40,000 ex-combatants in Liberia. Of these 20,332 were officially registered as having disarmed during a demobilisation campaign in 1997, according to the UN.