Fighting in Monrovia dies down, soldiers go looting

There was a lull in fighting between Liberian government and rebel forces on the western outskirts of the capital Monrovia on Sunday morning, but the city remained tense and residents reported that goverment fighters were looting abandoned houses and taking mobile phones and cars away from civilians. Government officials said forces loyal to President Charles Taylor had beaten back rebel forces attacking Monrovia from the northwest as far as Brewersville, a suburb eight km from the city centre where most of the camps housing people displaced by the civil war are situated. Most of the 200,000 residents of these camps have flooded into the city centre during the past three days of heavy fighting to seek safety. The government has ordered them to regroup at the Samuel Doe sports stadium in the east of Monrovia, saying they would receive shelter and a distribution of emergency food rations there. About 200 had gathered at the stadium by Sunday morning. Taylor said in a radio broadcast on Sunday that it was safe for residents to return to the western suburbs of New Kru Town, Brewersville and Caldwell, which had been recaptured by government forces. However several people venturing back to these areas told IRIN there had been "massive looting" of homes by government fighters, despite a warning by Taylor that he would deal "drastically" with any members of his security forces caught stealing. Other residents of Monrovia reported that government fighters had forced them to give up their mobile phones and cars. Taylor said people should resume normal business. He urged taxis and buses to start plying the streets again, repeating a guarantee given by Transport Minister Joe Muldah on Saturday night that they could operate safely. However few shops dared to open and there were very few civilian vehicles in the streets. Taylor said his security forces had taken prisoner an unspecified number of fighters of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement, which has led the assault on the capital. He gave no details of how many had been killed or wounded in the clashes. Despite the fighting, Robertsfield airport, to the east of the city remained open. Several members of the Lebanese community, which controls most business activity in Monrovia, departed on a charter flight to Sierra Leone on Saturday. More were waiting to depart on planes expected from Nigeria and Ghana on Sunday Taylor said on Wednesday he was ready to step down if this would help end 14 years of almost continuous civil war in Liberia. He made the announcement at the start of peace talks and Ghana as rebel forces came closer than ever before to Monrovia and a court in Sierra Leone issued an international warrant for his arrest for war crimes in view of his alleged role in fuelling that country's 10-year civil war. But Taylor hardened his position on Saturday night, saying in a radio interview that he would not be forced out of power before the end of his current six year-term. According to the consitution this should end on August 2, the sixth anniversary of his inauguration after elections in 1997. However, Taylor has announced presidential elections for October 14 with the declared aim of extending his present mandate until January 6 2004. Government officials said Taylor, who plunged Liberia into its current cycle of violence when he launched a rebellion against former President Samuel Doe in 1989, is expected to dismiss his present ministerial team at a cabinet meeting on Monday to pave the way for forming a new government of national unity. However, LURD and a second rebel faction, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), have both said they will not discuss peace so long as Taylor remains head of state. Diplomats say LURD, which controls much of northern Liberia, is heavily backed by Guinea. They say MODEL, which has seized control southeastern Liberia since it appeared on the scene three months ago, is strongly supported by Cote d'Ivoire. LURD has sent a delegation to the stalled peace talks in the Ghanaian town of Akosombo, but MODEL has yet to do so.