LIBERIAN FIGHTING RAGES ANEW : HOPES FOR PEACE DIM DESPITE WARLORD'S EVACUATION.Byline: Jonathan Paye-Layleh Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Liberia's rebels, many of them teen-agers armed with machine guns, fought furious street battles Saturday, shattering hopes that the evacuation of warlord warlord, in modern Chinese history, autonomous regional military commander. In the political chaos following the death (1916) of republican China's first president and commander in chief, Yüan Shih-kai, central authority fell to the provincial military governors Roosevelt Johnson Roosevelt Johnson is a Liberian who led a rebel group during the country's civil war. He is a member of the Krahn ethnic group. A former teacher, Johnson joined the rebel group United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) soon after the war began. would spur moves toward peace. The fresh violence came one day after U.S. Marines airlifted Johnson to Accra, Ghana, for peace talks. But archrival arch·ri·val n. A principal rival. Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor may refer to: Political figures
The warfare was the worst since a 10-day cease-fire crumbled Monday. Two main bridges leading into the West African city were under heavy fire. Taylor's forces repeatedly shelled the military barracks bar·rack 1 tr.v. bar·racked, bar·rack·ing, bar·racks To house (soldiers, for example) in quarters. n. 1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. that Johnson had seized and occupied for the last month. ``The fighting now going on is intended to diminish the ability of Johnson's men to make war,'' Taylor said at his headquarters in the suburb of Congo Town. Taylor said he had no intention of joining Johnson in Accra for talks to begin Wednesday on ending the 6-year-old Liberian war. ``I welcome the process to have Gen. Johnson evacuated and hope that the electoral process will go on as planned in August this year,'' he said. Taylor recently aligned his forces with warlord Alhaji Alhaji or Al-Hajj (Arabic الحاجّ) is a term of respect used to address a Muslim man who has completed one of the Five Pillars of Islam by going on the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage to Mecca. Kromah, once a bitter rival. Both men sit on Liberia's governing council, which was seated Sept. 1 after international mediators brokered the country's 13th peace accord in six years of civil war. The council was designed to prepare Liberia for elections by August. Taylor said the council's civilian chairman, Wilton Sankawulo, would represent Liberia at the peace talks. The U.S. State Department said Saturday that the failure of any faction leader to attend the peace talks would be regarded as ``evidence of an unwillingness to support the peace process.'' The White House is sending U.S. special envoy Dane Smith to attend the talks in Ghana. Johnson, who had been barricaded in the military barracks since April 6, was hustled in an armored convoy to the U.S. Embassy on Friday. A U.S. helicopter flew him to neighboring Sierra Leone and onto Accra later that night. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Liberian fighters loyal to Charles Taylor fire Satur day at forces serving Roosevelt Johnson, who fled the country. Associated Press |
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