UN envoy lands in Liberia; rebels handover vital port to peacekeepers

The United Nations envoy for Liberia arrived today in the capital Monrovia, where rebels handed over control of the vital port area to Nigerian peacekeepers, paving the way for food and other aid to start flowing again to the famished, overcrowded city.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative Jacques Paul Klein landed in Monrovia following a stopover in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He is expected to meet with African leaders, as well as the heads of UN and other organizations to discuss a comprehensive response to the dire humanitarian situation.

Mr. Klein is also expected to work with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to develop a strategy to rapidly demobilize the huge numbers of child soldiers as the hostilities have eased in the wake of former President Charles Taylor's departure into exile on Monday.

Meanwhile, the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) handed over control of Monrovia's port to peacekeepers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Preceding the rebel handover was yesterday's widespread looting in the port, as desperate civilians pillaged World Food Programme (WFP) warehouses and containers for food and supplies before the peacekeepers took over. The city was reported relatively calm today, however, but the extent of yesterday's damage is unclear, as humanitarian workers have not yet completed their assessments.

Before departing the region yesterday, Carolyn McAskie, the UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, stressed the importance of secure access to the port. "If the port is opened and we can get access, we are fairly confident that we can start food distribution within a couple of days," she said. "We have UNICEF, WHO (World Health Organization) and the WFP bringing in medical supplies as well as food within the next 48 hours."

In other news, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that as reports of humanitarian conditions outside Monrovia continue to come in, it has become clear that needs in much of Liberia will be great. An assessment team from the non-governmental humanitarian agency OXFAM reported that people in Bong County were dying daily from hunger; rice and other food commodities are said to be extremely scarce and people are living on wild roots and leaves.

On the peacekeeping front, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) continued its airlift to support the deployment of troops and equipment in Liberia.