LURD leader hands over heavy weapons, supports disarmament

Amidst cheers and singing by his fighters, Sekou Conneh, the chairman of the LURD rebel movement, handed over a substantial cache of weapons to United Nations peacekeepers Monday, eager to show his support for an impending disarmament campaign. Three anti-aircraft guns with 40 boxes of anti-aircraft missiles, were part of the cache Conneh proudly presented to peacekeepers in the LURD stronghold of Tubmanburg, 60 km north of the capital Monrovia. He also handeded over 150 mortar rounds, 40 hand grenades and 50 rocket-propelled grenades. "Today, we want to assure the international community and the Liberian people that the Liberian crisis is about to be over" Conneh said as he handed over the arms to Pakistani Brigadier General Irean Azam. "We are anxious and we want to disarm now." he asserted. The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) is due to launch disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation campaign for all three armed factions in Liberia later this month. The starting date has not yet been announced. This was the second high profile appearance by Conneh in support of the peace process since he called for the removal of Gyude Bryant as chairman of Liberia's transitional government in January, accusing him of being inept and inadequate. Conneh, who is vying with his estranged wife Aisha Keita Conneh for the leadership of LURD, subsequently backed down. He told IRIN in an interview last week that he now supported Bryant, who is charged with leading Liberia to fresh elections in October 2005. Shortly afterwards he appeared at a rally in the northwestern town of Gbarnga called by UNMIL to explain the disarmament process to LURD fighters. However, Conneh remains nervous about his own security. He stays in a fortified compound on the outskirts of Monrovia where 75 LURD fighters and a contingent of UN peacekeepers stand guard. He also travels in heavily armoured convoys. Eleven vehicles escorted him on the hour-long drive to Tubmanburg on Monday. According to rebel leaders the weapons handed over there had been destined for the LURD assault on Monrovia last summer. It was called off shortly before the three warring parties in Liberia signed a peace agreement in August that ended 14 years of civil war. Conneh called on his fighters to hand in their guns during the disarmament campaign. He said the surrender of heavy weaponry was a "direct message to the fighters that we are not prepared to fight anymore and they should get ready for full disarmament". More similar ceremonies have been promised within the coming weeks. LURD Secretary General Joe Gbalah told IRIN that before March 10, the rebel faction would hand over more arms in Voinjama, in Lofa county in northwestern Liberia. Lofa County is where LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) launched its rebellion against former president Charles Taylor in 1999. The area has not yet been secured by UN peacekeepers. There are nearly 11,000 UN troops on the ground at present, UNMIL expects it to reach its full strength of 15,000 men in late February or early March.