"No Money, No Guns" Chant Angry Liberian Fighters

by Abdullah Dukuly

Gun-toting youths of the country's three armed factions chanted "No Money, No Weapons." They flocked the street corners of the capital, Monrovia, brandishing their AK-47 rifles in anticipation of exchanging them for cash rewards.

As the disarmament process got underway at the Shefflin military barracks, 56 kilometres east of the capital, only militia of exiled former president Charles Taylor joined the UN-sponsored $50-million project designed to persuade the combatants to disarm.

The fighters were visibly enthusiastic as they went through the process. But as the day went by, many returned home with their arms and resorted to indiscriminate firing in the air. They also threw rocks at moving vehicles in protest against the failure of the United Nations to meet their demands. The peacekeepers watched the incident which continued the next morning but did nothing to contain it, witnesses told IPS.

Political commentators said such an attitude on the part of the peacekeepers could strengthen the resolve of the combatants to engage in more violent actions.

Rebels of the Liberia United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) did not join the disarmament exercise aimed at ensuring peace and moving the country towards elections in 2005. Their leaders recently made demands for jobs as a condition for allowing their fighters to disarm.

"Sadly, some of their misguided leaders have tried to hamper and undermine this process. They tabled unreasonable demands, they want jobs for themselves, they refuse to cooperate, they walk out of meetings and thereby mortgage Liberia and its people," Jacques Paul Klein, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan's special envoy and coordinator of UN operations in Liberia, explained.

The United Nations -- which is flying in 15,000 troops, 200 military observers and 1,000 international police to ensure peace -- is confident that the factions will eventually submit to the disarmament exercise.

Kein vowed that the United Nations will open disarmament camps in areas under rebel control "until we have disarmed, demobilised and reintegrated every last combatant in Liberia."

The tiny West African state of about 3.5 million people has been embroiled in war since 1989. Rooted in an ethnic conflict and the ugly scramble for the country's rich gold, diamond, timber and iron ore reserves, the conflict -- which spilled over into neighboring states, destabilizing the sub-region -- left over 200,000 Liberians dead and thousands others maimed and displaced.

After three months of grueling peace talks in Accra, Ghana, all parties signed an accord forming a transitional government with a two-year mandate to run the country towards elections in 2005.

Under the agreement, the armed groups were barred from the positions of the chair and vice chair of the transitional government. Occupants of the two posts and those of the speaker and deputy speaker of the transitional assembly as well as cabinet ministers cannot contest the 2005 elections.

The agreement says the executive will comprise representatives of the erstwhile Taylor-led government, the rebels, the country's 18 political parties and the civic groups.

A 76-member legislative body is now in place under the accord and it includes a representative of each of the country's 13 counties. LURD and MODEL occupy the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.

The Supreme Court is currently undergoing a process of reconstitution following the resignation of judge appointed by Taylor.

UN peacekeepers are in charge of security and are expected to restructure the country's army and police.

Meantime, a "politically neutral" businessperson, Gyude Bryant, chosen at the peace talks by the warlords to lead the transitional administration, appointed a commission to disarm, demobilize reintegrate and rehabilitate the armed fighters. The disarmament process will last for nine months and weapons and ammunition collected will be destroyed.

After the demobilization, ex-combatants will start reintegration and rehabilitation activities. These will include educational and vocational training programs.

At least $300 will go into the pockets of each of the ex-combatants at the end of the process to help cover resettlement and rehabilitation expenses. The money will be paid in two installments. There are special programs for child soldiers, disabled ex-combatants and women, inside sources told IPS Monday.

Josephine Gadyea, 16, was among the fighters who lay down their arms. "I'm happy that the war is over. I hope the UN will take a good care of us because I want to return to school and learn a trade."

Varney Setydea, 18, a former government fighter, said he was happy that his former mentor, Taylor, was chased out of the country when rebels were in the outskirts of the city. "We can now breathe an air of freedom because Taylor ran away. We will engage in activities that will be productive for ourselves," he said.

For the recalcitrant behavior of the rebels, Bryant tried to diffuse the deafening tension that brewed when he gave the assurance that the fighters will surely disarm despite their demand for more jobs.

The high commands of LURD and MODEL repeated their commitment to the disarmament exercise. But they maintained their stance on the distribution of the remaining assistant ministerial posts among the factions and other stakeholders.

They had vowed not to allow their fighters to disarm unless their supporters occupied the positions allocated to them under the peace accord.

A source in the State House said the government has decided to freeze the posts in question at least for one year due to financial constraint.

Klein has condemned the behavior of the rebel leaders. "These people are not only breaking the promise they made when they signed the comprehensive peace agreement, they are betraying their own soldiers and the people of Liberia. They are keeping young men, women and children from going to school. Acquiring vocational skills and getting jobs, out of sheer personal greed. They are threatening the future prosperity of the Liberian state," he said.

Meanwhile, analysts of Liberia's long history of conflicts believe that this is not the first time that the disarmament exercise of the country's armed fighters has been problematic.

Many see the 1997 disarmament exercise as a sham as thousands of arms and ammunition were hidden in the dense forests due to the insincerity of faction leaders. They also did not fully sensitise their fighters on the need to disarm.

But a former commander of Taylor's rebel faction in the early '90s blamed the West African peacekeepers at the time for failing to fulfill the promises made to the fighters for bonuses and vocational training programs.

At the same time, a political commentator suggests that the United Nations needs to do more in cajoling the fighters to disarm rather than issuing threats. "If they can be given what was promised them, the fighters will come out in their thousands in much the same way as they did on Sunday and surrender their arms," said Andrew Robinson.

A UN official told IPS that the world body would not renege on its obligation to the Liberian people. He said Klein has mentioned that without the full implementation of the disarmament process, the future of Liberia is bleak

"The UN Security Council has stated very strongly that sanctions against Liberia will be lifted only when disarmament and demobilization is faithfully implemented. The international community will support Liberia only if the peace is sustained in a weapons-free environment.

"International investors will return to develop the economy only if there is a safe and secure environment. There will be a future for Liberia only if the disarmament program is successfully completed," Klein said.