LIBERIA: Riots erupt as Weah claims presidency

MONROVIA, 12 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Former football superstar and loser of Liberia’s first post-war elections, George Weah, claimed the presidency this weekend in a series of rabble-rousing speeches that sparked rioting in the battered capital Monrovia.

Several policemen were reported to be badly hurt and at least 40 arrested in the trouble on Sunday.

Weah’s verbal onslaught began as soon as he was off a plane, fresh from visiting presidents John Kufuor of Ghana and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who have been urging the onetime FIFA world footballer of the year to concede defeat gracefully.

“I am President of this country, whether you like it or not, it will not change. I told President Mbeki this. I repeat that I was cheated in the elections,” Weah told reporters on Sunday afternoon.

Weah lost to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the second round run-off of Liberia’s first post-war presidential elections on the 8 November but has refused to accept her victory claiming large scale rigging and fraud in the UN-organised poll.

On Sunday evening, Weah told hundreds of supporters gathered at his party headquarters -- the Congress for Democratic Change -- that Sirleaf’s inauguration, scheduled for mid-January, would be blocked.

“One cannot have an inauguration in January when the case we are pursuing is not resolved. The whole world needs to know this. We are seeking justice and there cannot be peace without justice,” Weah said.

Newly trained Liberian police were attacked by CDC supporters after Weah's speech. According to the UN's mission in Liberia, peacekeepers were called in to assist as a small group of Weah supporters began throwing stones injuring officers and vandalising vehicles.

“The five officers were among those that went to disperse the CDC supporters who were throwing stones at our men and one of the officers is unconscious right now and taking treatment at a local hospital,” Inspector Joseph Kerkula told IRIN.

Weah, who grew up in the slums of Monrovia to become a football legend, has a strong following among young Liberian men, many of whom took up arms as guerrilla fighters during the country’s 14 years of civil war.

“A group of police moved into the CDC headquarters to disperse the supporters who were making threatening statements to disturb the city and the CDC partisans began to throw stones at the police officers and thereafter hell broke loose,” said Daniel Gibson, who sells beer and cigarettes at his shop opposite the CDC building.

Weah’s party claim that the police stormed their headquarters and provoked their supporters to riot.

“We were provoked by the police. While we were holding a welcoming ceremony at our party headquarters for our standard bearer George Weah after he returned from a tour of some African countries, a group of police went into our offices and clashed with our partisans,” Eugene Nagbe, secretary general of the CDC said.

According to Nagbe, 50 of Weah’s supporters were wounded during the clash.

A heavier than usual presence of UN peacekeeping forces patrolled streets of Monrovia on Monday and a UN helicopter kept watch on the city from above.

The riots rang alarm bells among residents who are still patching the bullet holes and restoring order to their beleaguered sea-front capital.

“This just shows how things can get out of hand,” Lemuel Harmon, a local business man told IRIN. “We are afraid that if CDC partisans are not contained, there could be more of these riots. Weah should continue to channel his case through the courts and not allow his supporters to take to the streets.”

Weah has filed an official complaint to the national elections commission over how the polls were conducted. An investigation has been launched though international observers have already given the ballot the thumbs up.

The weekend skirmishes came as the interim government said it had launched investigations into “plans to cause instability and chaos in the country,” in a statement issued on Sunday.

Although the government did not name any group, it said “a full investigation into the matter has been launched and is already gathering evidence on suspected individuals”.

Liberian Information Minister William Allen told reporters on Monday that government officials were involved in the plan, though he declined to name names.

“This threat is real and serious and the security agencies are keeping surveillance on those unscrupulous individuals behind the plans,” said Allen. “Two highly-placed government officials are said to be involved.”

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