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LIBERIA: One person killed in riot by former combatants, UN
© IRIN
Mark Kroeker, head of the UN police force in Liberia |
DAKAR, 18 May 2004 (IRIN) - One person was killed and three or four others were injured during a riot by 500 former combatants in the Liberian capital Monrovia on Monday, according to Mark Kroeker, the head of the UN international police force in Liberia.
Kroeker released the casualty figures in an interview with the UN radio station in Monrovia on Monday night. A transcript of his remarks was made available to IRIN by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
The rioters were former members of the armed forces of former president Charles Taylor who were paid US$75 of their $300 resettlement grant when they were disarmed last December. They staged a violent protest demonstration in the eastern suburb of Paynesville to demand the immediate payment of the remaining money.
The rioters, who were armed with sticks, set up road blocks, attacked vehicles and attempted to loot shops. A Jordanian unit from the UN police force tried to disperse them with tear gas, but eyewitnesses said the rioters were only brought under control after five hours when reinforcements of UN peacekeeping troops arrived on the scene.
"Three or four people I think were injured and one man - I don't know the details exactly - was assaulted very seriously by a group of people and he has died," Kroeker said.
The UN police commissioner said his men were ready to use fire arms to restore order in the event of future trouble, but only as "a last resort."
"They will use deadly force and are perfectly equipped and trained to do so," he warned.
General Joseph Owonibi, the acting commander of UN peacekeeping troops in Liberia, said moves were under way to address the grievances of the protesting former combatants, who felt they had been sidelined following the resumption of the UN disarmament programme in April after a four-month gap.
"There is a strategy and a programme being worked out," he told the UN radio station in a separate interview. "Everybody is required to be patient. The programme will be widely publicised over UNMIL Radio and through the local commanders. So everybody will be coverered. Nobody is going to be left out."
[ENDS]
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