Beleaguered Liberian leader Charles Taylor went to Libya last week to collect a shipment of arms and ammunition to back his campaign to retain power, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Bad weather which forced the president to delay his return caused him to miss an August 1 meeting with West African foreign ministers to discuss efforts to end the country’s civil war, the Post said quoting ”individuals in Monrovia” with knowledge of Taylor’s trip.
A second plane carrying arms arrived at Monrovia’s Roberts International Airport on Thursday at 2:00 am but the cargo was intercepted by Nigerian peacekeeping forces who have set up a base there, the report from Monrovia said.
The Post quoted a Liberian source as saying the latest shipment included rocket-propelled grenades, bazookas and missiles.
The first flight on August 1 contained mainly ammunition for AK-47 rifles and mortars which were used in fighting the next day, it said.
Taylor has said he will stand down at midday on Monday and start making preparations to travel to Nigeria, which has offered him asylum.
But the Washington Post said the arms shipments raised new questions about whether Taylor will leave Liberia.
The report said Taylor and Libyan leader Moammer Gadaffi had a longstanding relationship and Libya had provided support for Taylor’s insurrection in the late 1980s against the Liberian government of the time.
US officials quoted by the report said they could not confirm the arms shipments. And they expressed surprise that Gadaffi would put at risk his efforts to mend relations with the United States.
US President George Bush has called on Taylor to leave Liberia.
Taylor is already under a United Nations’s (UN) travel ban while sales of arms to Liberia are also banned by a UN Security Council resolution. – Sapa-AFP