Tweet
Mon Aug 4, 3:12 PM ET
By David Clarke
MONROVIA (Reuters) - Hundreds of war-weary Liberians danced for joy in the capital's ruined streets Monday hoping for an end to 14 years of bloodshed as West African peacekeepers arrived by helicopter.
Nigerian soldiers in flak jackets and helmets leapt out into driving rain at the international airport near the war-battered capital Monrovia, as hundreds of Liberians welcomed them with cheers and chants of "No more war, we want peace."
In Rome, the leader of the main LURD rebel group, which controls Monrovia's vital port, said his fighters would pull out once the Nigerians moved in. He reiterated demands that Liberia (news - web sites)'s President Charles Taylor leave the country swiftly.
A Nigerian army spokesman said almost 200 men -- the first wave of a thousands-strong force -- had flown in from neighboring Sierra Leone where they had helped end a savage decade-long civil war with links to Liberia's conflict.
The peacekeepers ran across the cracked tarmac to take up positions in the long grass at the airport, 28 miles from Monrovia. The crowd hoisted one Nigerian colonel onto their shoulders.
Brigadier-General Festus Okonkwo, the Nigerian force commander, said his men would need a few days before embarking on street patrols in the capital, which has become a bloody war zone during two weeks of battles.
Okonkwo said he would have enough men to move into the rebel-controlled port after a week. His men would not be deterred by any fighting, said Okonkwo, who warned he was prepared to seek authority to use force if necessary.
"If we want to keep peace and we cannot keep peace, it will amount to enforcing peace. We will get back to the people who sent us and they will give us that mandate," he said.
DANCING IN THE STREET
Exhausted, hungry people on both sides of the front line cheered and danced as the white U.N. helicopters bearing the Nigerian peacekeepers clattered overhead.
Their arrival could allow the start of the huge relief operation needed to avert a humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought refuge in Monrovia, dodging bullets and mortars to forage for ever scarcer food and water.
"If they stay for the next 50 years, no problem. I just want to sleep soundly. There will be no mixed reaction, all Liberians want peace," said airport worker Kerdial Johnson.
"We are very happy for them to be here so that this war can come to an end," said army chief of staff General Benjamin Yeaten, as the capital enjoyed its quietest day in more than two weeks. "Liberians are very tired of war."
Some rebels danced near the front line and waved white flags to celebrate. But battles continued in the second city Buchanan.
Three attacks on Monrovia by the rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) since the start of June have killed around 2,000 people and wounded thousands more.
LURD leader Sekou Conneh said his fighters would pull out of Monrovia when the peacekeepers moved in.
"We don't want to pull back if the peacekeepers are not there and the civilians will get attacked by Taylor's forces ... so that is why we are taking our time," he told Reuters in Rome.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji, who flew in with the peacekeepers, said after a meeting with the president that Taylor was "very happy" with the deployment.
Taylor, indicted for war crimes by a U.N.-backed court, has pledged to resign on Aug. 11 but has yet to set a date for his departure. He has accepted an offer of asylum from Nigeria.
But some feel Taylor, a wily survivor who waged a brutal seven-year war before winning power via the ballot box, is stalling.
President Bush (news - web sites) has yet to decide whether to send in Marines aboard U.S. warships heading for Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves. (Additional reporting by Alphonso Toweh, Christo Johnson in Freetown)
--------------------------------
Is it legal to start a poll on when the belly-aching will begin?
By David Clarke
MONROVIA (Reuters) - Hundreds of war-weary Liberians danced for joy in the capital's ruined streets Monday hoping for an end to 14 years of bloodshed as West African peacekeepers arrived by helicopter.
Nigerian soldiers in flak jackets and helmets leapt out into driving rain at the international airport near the war-battered capital Monrovia, as hundreds of Liberians welcomed them with cheers and chants of "No more war, we want peace."
In Rome, the leader of the main LURD rebel group, which controls Monrovia's vital port, said his fighters would pull out once the Nigerians moved in. He reiterated demands that Liberia (news - web sites)'s President Charles Taylor leave the country swiftly.
A Nigerian army spokesman said almost 200 men -- the first wave of a thousands-strong force -- had flown in from neighboring Sierra Leone where they had helped end a savage decade-long civil war with links to Liberia's conflict.
The peacekeepers ran across the cracked tarmac to take up positions in the long grass at the airport, 28 miles from Monrovia. The crowd hoisted one Nigerian colonel onto their shoulders.
Brigadier-General Festus Okonkwo, the Nigerian force commander, said his men would need a few days before embarking on street patrols in the capital, which has become a bloody war zone during two weeks of battles.
Okonkwo said he would have enough men to move into the rebel-controlled port after a week. His men would not be deterred by any fighting, said Okonkwo, who warned he was prepared to seek authority to use force if necessary.
"If we want to keep peace and we cannot keep peace, it will amount to enforcing peace. We will get back to the people who sent us and they will give us that mandate," he said.
DANCING IN THE STREET
Exhausted, hungry people on both sides of the front line cheered and danced as the white U.N. helicopters bearing the Nigerian peacekeepers clattered overhead.
Their arrival could allow the start of the huge relief operation needed to avert a humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought refuge in Monrovia, dodging bullets and mortars to forage for ever scarcer food and water.
"If they stay for the next 50 years, no problem. I just want to sleep soundly. There will be no mixed reaction, all Liberians want peace," said airport worker Kerdial Johnson.
"We are very happy for them to be here so that this war can come to an end," said army chief of staff General Benjamin Yeaten, as the capital enjoyed its quietest day in more than two weeks. "Liberians are very tired of war."
Some rebels danced near the front line and waved white flags to celebrate. But battles continued in the second city Buchanan.
Three attacks on Monrovia by the rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) since the start of June have killed around 2,000 people and wounded thousands more.
LURD leader Sekou Conneh said his fighters would pull out of Monrovia when the peacekeepers moved in.
"We don't want to pull back if the peacekeepers are not there and the civilians will get attacked by Taylor's forces ... so that is why we are taking our time," he told Reuters in Rome.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji, who flew in with the peacekeepers, said after a meeting with the president that Taylor was "very happy" with the deployment.
Taylor, indicted for war crimes by a U.N.-backed court, has pledged to resign on Aug. 11 but has yet to set a date for his departure. He has accepted an offer of asylum from Nigeria.
But some feel Taylor, a wily survivor who waged a brutal seven-year war before winning power via the ballot box, is stalling.
President Bush (news - web sites) has yet to decide whether to send in Marines aboard U.S. warships heading for Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves. (Additional reporting by Alphonso Toweh, Christo Johnson in Freetown)
--------------------------------
Is it legal to start a poll on when the belly-aching will begin?
@ the article
). With luck, the peacekeepers' role will be to instill a sense of secutiry and stability to the population, and will be to impress disbanded fighters into not pillaging / wreaking havoc.
Comment