From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: LIBERIA: REFUGEE SITUATION CRITICAL
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 00:22:52 GMT

Reference: Population
Title: LIBERIA: REFUGEE SITUATION CRITICAL


harare, sep 1 (ips/ruby ofori) -- an upsurge of fighting by
liberian rebels threatens to turn a manageable refugee situation
into crisis, says the united nations special coordinator for
relief aid in monrovia.

in a telephone interview with ips, ross mountain warned
that: ''if as feared renewed conflict breaks out in bomi and
cape mount there will be more casualties and more displaced''.

over the past week around 25,000 refugees have fled as the
sierra leone based united liberation movement of liberia (ulimo)
swept into the war ravaged west african state, capturing bomi
and cape mount on the western border with sierra leone from the
national patriotic front of liberia (npfl).

''it is not easy sending relief to ulimo held areas'', said
mountain. a point underscored by a grenade attack last week in
bomi on a team of relief workers from medicine sans frontier
france and the international red cross and red crescent
committee.

chaos has reigned in this west african country since charles
taylor's npfl invaded from cote d'ivoire in 1989, toppling
liberian president samuel doe, despite the two-year presence
of a seven-nation west african peacekeeping force, ecomog.

following the recent military successes of ulimo, the
authorities in monrovia, where an interim government rules,
issued an appeal for both rebel forces to allow relief supplies
into their areas. there has been no response as yet.

alfred kulah head of the relief and resettlement commission
in monrovia confirmed the u.n. assessement that the new influx
of 25,000 refugees to the already overcrowded capital was, at
the moment, mangageable.

however, mountain said, ''we have supplies and personell but
they were not foreseen for this particular use''. kulah added
that more blankets, food and medicine were needed and he
expected the u.n. would supply these.

the food situation in most of the counties of liberia  was
adequate given that ''it's harvest season and there should be
produce that people can find locally'', said mountain.

more worrying, he said was the plight of 90,000 sierra
leonean refugees in western lofa county whose condition is
critical said the u.n. chief.

malnutrition in lofa is affecting around 40 per cent of the
population, mountain estimated. ''we are getting food in but
it's very difficult, the roads are virtually impassable because
of the rains''. (more/ips)


liberia: refugee (2)

the war situation looks set to worsen say observers. there
appears little hope that either side is in any mood to observe a
ceasefire ordered by members of the 16-nation economic community
of west african states (ecowas), last july.

the peace process in liberia has been a faltering one.
april had been designated the month in which ecomog forces
should have begun disarming all the warring factions under a
peace accord between ecowas and npfl signed last october.

since april however, ecomog forces have attempted
unsuccessfully to cross the bo bridge to set the process in
motion. in july six senegalese soldiers were kidnaped and
murdered by npfl totally derailing the disarmament process.

at a subsequent summit ecowas adopted a slightly tougher
stance issuing an ultimatum ordering npfl to observe a ceasefire
by aug 30 or face automatic sanctions.

''it's hard for taylor to be expected to disarm if he's
fighting a war with ulimo'', noted an observer in monrovia.

but according to lamini waritay, spokesman for the interim
government in monrovia, ''taylor has tried to dictate the terms
in which the peace keeping force should work''.

he accused the npfl of having no intention of observing the
peace accord which it signed last year. in waritay's view
everything now depends on ecomog field commander ishaya bakut's
ability to persuade the west african states of the importance of
sanctions.

npfl supply lines are said to run across the cote d'ivoire
border with liberia. npfl illegal exports of rubber, diamonds,
and gold pass through the same routes. effective sanctions would
mean cote d'ivoire would have to close its borders to liberia.

additionally, ecomog would have to police the sea off liberia
and the interim government in monrovia would also have to close
the city's borders to npfl traders who frequently visit the
capital for food and petrol supplies.

most observers are sceptical about the capacity of ecowas to
impose sanctions. the hope in monrovia is that ulimo will solve
the problem militarily.''whatever it takes to apply pressure on
taylor is welcome'', said warity.

but, ''ulimo is preaching the message of a united liberation
front it says it is dedicated to the the ecowas peace-keeping
process. when taylor was coming we hailed him for saying the
same things, i like to remain sceptical'', said waritay.
(end/ips/ro/oa/92)




-- 
Mr. Aaron Barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us -- posting from Evanston, Illinois
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african,sanet.talk.politics,apc.reg.safrica