Ceasefire hopes fade

2003-07-30 08:34

Monrovia - Liberia's main rebel group on Tuesday shelled downtown Monrovia, saying their promised ceasefire would not take effect until troops loyal to President Charles Taylor halted their attacks.

The continued fighting came as Nigeria and the United States were haggling over who will pay to send a west African peacekeeping force to the war-torn west African country, as fears of widespread hunger and outbreaks of disease mounted.

General Benjamin Yeaten, deputy chief of staff of the Liberian army, visited at the frontline by AFP journalists in the evening, said the rebels "are continuing to shell the city."

Rebels from Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) earlier Tuesday announced a unilateral ceasefire but later qualified it, saying it would take effect only when the loyalist forces also ceased fire.

Lurd leader Sekou Damate Conneh said later: "I gave the order today to my troops to cease fire in Monrovia for humanitarian reasons.

"Our unilateral ceasefire will be effective only when Taylor will stop attacking us. He is still trying to cross the bridges by force."

Rebels have been trying to take the bridges which give access to the seaside capital, where hundreds of civilians have been killed by fighting since the latest rebel offensive began July 17.

General Yeaten's headquarters continued to receive hits late on Tuesday. One shell landed in the central Benson Street area, wounding several people.

Yeaten said the rebels had been pushed back from the Stockton Creek Bridge - another strategic position further north which the Lurd had taken earlier in the week.

Lurd delegate Kabineh Ja' neh, attending peace talks in the Ghanaian capital Accra, said earlier on Tuesday his movement had declared a unilateral ceasefire which would go into effect immediately.

He said their fighters had been told to group at the port area, north of the two bridges. Lurd has been controlling the port since July 19.

The Lurd fighters will stay in the port area until the arrival of international peacekeepers to whom they will cede the position, Ja'neh said.

However, no date has yet been set for the despatch of peacekeepers.

Yeaten said the Lurd declaration was meaningless as "they declared a ceasefire but are still trying to cross the bridges."

He said heavy fighting was going on in Buchanan, Liberia's second port city, vast parts of which were overrun on Monday by the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, a smaller rebel group based in southern Liberia.

- AFX