Gbarnga is where Taylor launched his own rebellion in 1989. Officials in Guinea were not available for comment. West African countries have in theory agreed to send a force of 1,700 men to the border region, but there is little sign of when it might be deployed. Brown dismissed the idea that Liberia was trying to play up the crisis to avert the imposition of limited U.N. sanctions on May 7 over Liberia's alleged support for Sierra Leonean rebels. Accusing Liberia of being the main troublemaker in the region, the United Nations has threatened to block travel by Taylor's senior officials and to embargo diamond sales.
Western diplomats expect the sanctions to take effect.
But Liberia complains that an arms embargo, put in place during the civil war in 1992 and recently tightened, is hindering its fight against the rebels. We do not believe we have done anything that has warranted a concerted effort to have us annihilated. To the contrary, we believe we've done everything to comply with the demands of the Security Council and address their concerns. All rights reserved. Republication and redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without Reuters prior written consent.