ECOMIL says it will only deploy troops close to capital

The West African peacekeeping force in Liberia lacks the capacity to deploy throughout the rebel-held north and east of the country and will focus on strengthening its current positions nearer the capital, Monrovia, the force commander said on Monday. General Festus Okonkwo told a news conference in Monrovia that his troops would not establish bases north of Totota, 109 km north of Monrovia or beyond the Saint John Bridge, near the port city of Buchanan, 120 km southeast of the capital. The Nigerian-led peacekeeping force known as ECOMIL sent a detachment of several hundred soldiers to Buchanan on Saturday, but they were refused entry to the city by fighters of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). The rebel group has controlled Buchanan since July 28. "We don't want to risk the lives of our soldiers. For now we will remain where we are - in Totota and on the nearer side of St. John Bridge, on the main road just before Buchanan," Okonkwo said. The Nigerian general said ECOMIL now had about 3,500 men in Liberia, and he warned rebels who have continued to clash with government militias in remote villages, to stop violating the 18 August peace agreement. It requires the government, MODEL and the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement to stay in their ceasefire positions and allow unhindered humanitarian access to the territory they control. However, clashes between the warring parties have continued. On Friday, government fighters abducted more than 15 people in Todee, a village 40 km northwest of Monrovia, claiming they were LURD supporters. Eyewitnesses told IRIN on Monday that a government militia unit called the Wild Geese, entered the village and abducted the District Chief, Gbelly Kamara, along with 14 others on suspicion of "allowing LURD rebels to attack Todee". The Wild Geese, is one of the government's feared militia groups. It was established in 2002 by former president Charles Taylor, who quit last month and went into exile in Nigeria. LURD rebels attacked Todee on 8 September and advanced from there to Kakata, a government-held town 45 km north of Monrovia. Tarnue Kollie, the son of one of those abducted in Todee on Friday told IRIN: "They were tied and put in two pickups to an unknown destination. We do not know whether they are alive or not. We have tried to get the defense minister's intervention to have our people released, but to no avail, " Asked about the incident, Liberia's police director Paul Mulbah, said: "We are not aware of any abduction". ECOMIL forces from Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria were deployed in Todee, Kakata, Salala and Totota last week to stabilize security in the volatile district of central Liberia. Okonkwo said a West African Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) would arrive in Liberia on Wednesday to start verifying the exact positions of government and rebel forces. "In case there is any more violation of the ceasefire, the JMC will establish the circumstances and inform ECOMIL. Appropriate punitive measures will be taken against parties involved in such violations," he told reporters. The force commander said ECOMIL would become part of a much larger United Nations military mission to Liberia (UNMIL), which is due to be formally established on 1 October. The Security Council is expected to discuss the size and mandate of the proposed UN peacekeeping force this week. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Liberia, Jacques Klein, has said a 15,000-strong force of blue helmets and 900 international policemen are needed to restore law and order in Liberia. Meanwhile relief workers in Monrovia told IRIN on Monday that some 80,000 civilians who fled four camps for displaced people near Totota following recent fighting around the town had started returning. Most of them had sought refuge at another camp for displaced people in nearby Salala. Relief workers had feared that the human tide would flow to Monrovia. "After ECOMIL deployed there last week, the situation stablised. The four camps where these people lived are 90 percent full again," a relief worker said. The However relief workers said MODEL fighters continued to harass thousands of civilians in Buchanan.