Former president resigns from commission

The former interim president of Liberia, Amos Sawyer, has resigned from a government body set up to integrate former fighters into society, the BBC reported on Monday. Sawyer was co-chairman of the Ex-Combatants Commission with Liberian first lady Jewel Howard-Taylor. He announced his departure two weeks after he was beaten up by people he said were security force members, the BBC reported. President Charles Taylor condemned the attack. A humanitarian source in Monrovia told IRIN on Tuesday that Sawyer was thought to have been targeted because the Center for Democratic Empowerment, of which he is a member, was accused of influencing recent student protests against the government’s domestic and regional policy. However, the source added, “it is difficult to know who was behind it (the attack) and the motive.” The source said some arrests had been made but none of the suspects had yet appeared in court.