I Coast turmoil 'won't threaten Liberia'

2011-01-25 15:03

Monrovia - Villages along Liberia's border with Ivory Coast are overwhelmed with refugees but the country will not allow its own stability to be threatened, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said.

About 29 000 people have fled into Liberia from the Ivory Coast where two bitter rivals both claim to be president, raising the threat of civil war.

"I want to reassure the Liberian people that we will not let this sad situation threaten our peace," Johnson Sirleaf said in a speech on Monday to mark the new year.

"We will work with regional and international partners to find a resolution," she said.

Liberia is a member of the West African bloc Ecowas, which is pushing Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo to give way for Alassane Ouatarra, the internationally recognised winner of the November 28 presidential elections.

Liberia is most vulnerable in the region to the conflict, the president said, and has taken in the most people fleeing the Ivory Coast to escape the mounting tensions.

Refugees have moved into 23 villagers along the border, she said.

Critical humanitarian assistance

"Those villages are now overcrowded.

"Our citizens have been sharing their rice and other produce recently harvested, but they are now overwhelmed, and camps are being built to hold the many thousands of our Ivorian brothers and sisters," she said.

Liberia was ravaged by a series of wars between 1989 and 2003 that left about 250 000 people dead with about 500 000 fleeing their homes, or the country.

About 29 000 people have fled the Ivory Coast because of the impasse and post-election violence that has killed 260 people, according to UN figures.

Johnson Sirleaf thanked the countries and agencies helping Liberia to cope, naming the United States, Libya, the World Food Programme, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

They are "providing critical humanitarian assistance to our Ivorian brothers and sisters in distress", she said.

- AFP