Civilians desperate for food
2003-08-15 10:55
Monrovia, Liberia - Desperate for food, tens of thousands of civilians broke through barricades on Monrovia's front-line bridges on Friday, reuniting Liberia's capital after 10 weeks of rebel siege.
The bridges had divided the city, separating hundreds of thousands of hungry people on the cut-off government side from the warehouses and other stockpiles of the rebel side. Rebels withdrew from Monrovia on Thursday, making the reunion possible.
West African peacekeepers, trying to control the chaos, had planned to re-open the bridges later on Friday.
But massive throngs rushed the bridges and overran the razor-wire barricades by early morning.
"Nobody opened the bridge. They just overpowered us," Moses Peter of Nigeria said.
By early morning, excited crowds were pouring across from both sides.
"There is food here now. I'm very happy," said Hamadu Kenneh, 40. "No one is complaining about food now."
Much of the food being brought back was in sacks of the World Food Program, whose warehouses and countless others were looted during the fighting.
President Charles Taylor, a former warlord blamed for 14 years of fighting, resigned under rebel and international pressure Monday and left the country, opening the way for rebels' withdrawal.
- AP