PRESS BRIEFING ON LIBERIA

At a time when the world’s attention was focused on Iraq, the humanitarian and political situation in Liberia was getting desperate, Ali Muktar Farah, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in that country, told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.

Mr. Farah called on the Security Council to undertake its mission to West Africa, which had been postponed earlier this week, as soon as possible and convince Liberian President Charles Taylor to sit down with the rebels and agree to a ceasefire.  If that did not happen, the conflict would escalate and engulf the capital, Monrovia, where half a million people today were in a desperate situation.  It could also threaten the prevailing peace in next-door Sierra Leone, he warned.

He said President Taylor was “mad” at the Security Council’s extension of the sanctions against Liberia, which now also covered timber for 10 months.  He felt his hands were tied by the Council and, therefore, he could not fight back against the rebels.  He did not want to deal with the Security Council and the United Nations - as demonstrated by his refusal to meet with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers -- and would rather deal with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and other African initiatives.

The conflict between the Liberian Government and rebels -– mainly the LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) in the north and west of the country -- had spread to the capital, Monrovia, in the last two months, he said.  There had also been fighting in the eastern part of the country, with a new group known as MODEL (Movement for Democracy in Liberia) spreading into Monrovia. 

Currently, there were over 200,000 internally displaced persons in Liberia, spread over 19 camps, with 60 per cent of them in Monrovia.  Over 300,000 Liberians had fled to neighbouring countries as a result of the conflict, mainly to Sierra Leone, Guinea and other West African nations.  Also, there were still 15,000 Sierra Leonean refugees near Monrovia.  In addition, there were 95,000 refugees and third country nationals, fleeing the conflict in Côte d’Ivoire, in eastern Liberia.  The United Nations did not have access to about 50,000 of those 95,000 due to fighting between rebel groups.

He appealed to the media to put a spotlight on Liberia, as the United Nations currently only had 11 per cent of the funds requested to address the humanitarian situation there, and it was getting worse by the day.  More and more people were coming into the camps and the existing camps were already overstretched.  Access to the affected areas by humanitarian workers continued to diminish.

In the last month, there had been targeting of supplies and civilians in refugee and internally displaced-person camps, even around Monrovia, by both the LURD and government militias.  All food distribution was currently on hold until the Government was able to provide security for the delivery of relief supplies. 

Presently, 85 per cent of the population was living on less than $1 a day.  Unemployment was about 90 per cent.  There had been no electricity or water in the capital for the last seven years.  People could not grow their own food, due to insecurity. 

The political process needed to be urgently supported, he said.  Peace talks were planned for 2 June between the warring factions and the Government in Accra, Ghana.  He hoped the international community, particularly the International Contact Group on Liberia and other African initiatives, would help bring about a ceasefire.

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