Ceasefire verification team faces further delay

A team of military experts charged with charting the ceasefire positions of government and rebel forces in Liberia, was due to assemble in neighbouring Sierra Leone on Wednesday prior to its deployment, diplomatic sources said. However, they warned that the Joint Verification Team created under the terms of a 17 June ceasefire agreement, might not be able start work immediately. The sources said that the team may have to wait a few days in Freetown while administrative arrangements for it to start work in Liberia are finalised. The ceasefire, negotiated at peace talks in Ghana, broke down completely last week after rebels mounted a fresh assault on the Liberian capital Monrovia. However, the rebels withdrew on Friday and the beleaguered city of one million people has remained calm since then. There have been no reports of fresh fighting elsewehere in the country either. In Washington, US government leaders discussed on Tuesday how the United States should support the peace process. Their deliberations followed strong pressure from France and Britain, West African leaders and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for America to take the lead in sending an international peacekeeping force to Liberia. In Monrovia, relief agencies took advantage of the latest truce to start organising the distribution of food to people displaced by two rebel incursions into the capital during June. However, the widespread looting of their warehouses during last week's fierce fighting in Monrovia was complicating efforts to get the operation started. The Joint Verification Team must define the positions held by each of the warring parties before peacekeeping forces are sent in to keep the belligerents apart. It includes two representatives each from the government of President Charles Taylor and the two rebel movements which now occupy two thirds of the country: Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). The team also includes one member each from the United Nations, African Union, the US government and the International Contact Group on Liberia. "All the representatives are here in Accra, ready to leave for Freetown," one diplomat in Ghana who has been following the peace talks closely, told IRIN. Reuters news agency quoted Liberian Defence Minister Daniel Chea as saying the arrival of the Joint Verification Team in Liberia would signal the start of all other ceasefire activities. These are due to include negotiations to form a transitional government from which Taylor would be excluded. In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the US government was "actively discussing how best to support international efforts to help Liberia return to peace and to the rule of law." A statement was expected later. The United States has come under strong international pressure to intervene in Liberia in view of its strong historical ties to the country, which was founded by freed American slaves in the early 19th century. Last week, US president George Bush urged Taylor, a former warlord who was elected president in 1997, to step down "to stop further bloodshed." Taylor said at the start of the peace talks on 4 June, that he was prepared to stand down if that would bring peace to his country, which has suffered 14 years of almost constant civil war. But he has since backtracked, saying that he intends to remain in power until the end of his term in January, 2004. Last Saturday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said a multinational intervention force was needed to prevent "a major humanitarian tragedy" in Liberia. He urged Washington to lead it. The UN security Council held a closed meeting on Monday to discuss Annan's proposal, but adjourned its deliberations until a Security Council mission, which is currently touring West Africa, returned to New York at the weekend. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is brokering the peace talks in Accra, has proposed an international force of 5,000 troops. ECOWAS officials have suggested that Washington might contribute 2,000 of them. Monrovia was calm on Tuesday for the fourth day running, after LURD rebels declared a truce on Friday and retreated from the city centre to the Po river, 17 km to the northwest, saying they wanted to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. Taylor's government claimed to have pushed them back by force. Relief workers told IRIN that international aid agencies hoped to begin distributing food soon to thousands of displaced people camped in downtown Monrovia. Some government rice has already been handed out under the supervision of Liberia's First Lady, Jewel Taylor. They said international aid agencies would mainly target the 100,000 residents of camps for internally displaced people on the outskirts of Monrovia who had fled to seek safety in the city centre during LURD's two assaults on Monrovia last month. However, the relief workers said food distribution plans were being hampered by a lack of transport following the looting of at least 20 vehicles belonging to various agencies, including the UN World Food Programme. Fuel, drugs and medical supplies and some food stocks had also been stolen. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) said its warehouses were emptied by looters who carted away blankets, jerry cans, plastic sheeting for the construction of refugee shelters, kitchen sets and other materials. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) flew in 12 tonnes of medical supplies on Monday, most of which were destined for Monrovia's main John F Kennedy hospital. Dominique Liengme, the head of ICRC in Liberia, said the supplies included medication for treating the war-wounded, bed sheets, stretchers and body bags for the dead. Liberian health workers said on Monday that at least 215 bodies had been recovered following last week's fighting. UNHCR said on Tuesday it was preparing to evacuate a large number of Sierra Leonean refugees trapped in war-torn Monrovia by sea. Many of these had sought refuge at the UNHCR compound. "More than 1,000 Sierra Leonean refugees and displaced Liberians are encamped in UN and embassy premises throughout the city," UNHCR said in a statement. "The refugees are among an estimated 15,000 Sierra Leoneans who were previously assisted by UNHCR in refugee camps around Monrovia." The MV Overbeck, which can carry up to 250 passengers, would sail from Freetown to Monrovia, as soon as guarantees were received that it could dock safely in the city's Freeport, Moses Okello, UNHCR representative in Liberia said. "If the ceasefire continues to hold, the Overbeck could set sail as early as this evening, UNHCR said on Tuesday, adding that the voyage to Monrovia would take about 36 hours.