The United Nations tried for a second time on Thursday to disarm Liberia’s estimated 45 000 combatants, hoping that a five-month public awareness campaign — including a travelling song-and-dance revue — will pay off and help the West African state take a giant step towards lasting peace.
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/ 10 December 2003
At least eight people have died in three days of riots in the Liberian capital sparked by former combatants angered by the conditions of a United Nations campaign to disarm them after 14 years of war. A civilian was shot eight times at point-blank range after refusing to hand over her vehicle to rioting fighters.
United Nations peacekeepers were due on Wednesday to take over from west African soldiers policing a ceasefire between rebels and the government in Liberia. The UN Security Council voted last month to deploy a peacekeeping force in Liberia, which is struggling to emerge from 14 years of almost uninterrupted war.