Top UN envoy tells Liberian rebels all hostilities must cease

Following reports earlier this week of fresh fighting between government and rebel forces in Liberia, the top United Nations envoy for the country has told the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) that all hostilities must cease.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Liberia, Jacques Paul Klein, sent the message while he was in Guinea yesterday as part of a tour of the war-torn West African country's neighbours, his spokeswoman said. While there, he met with Guinean Prime Minister Lamine Sidime, diplomatic representatives and the UN country team.

Today Mr. Klein is in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, for similar talks and he is scheduled to travel to Côte d'Ivoire tomorrow.

He also met today with Nigeria's Chief of Army staff, Maj. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, thanking him for his country's important role in Liberia, where it is leading regional peacekeeping troops in an effort to enforce a truce after fighting that has killed hundreds and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes in recent months alone.

General Agwai said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo was fully committed to the peace process, and Nigeria was willing to "re-hat" its battalions under the UN - a reference to the blue helmets of UN peacekeepers. A UN force is scheduled to take over from the West African troops on 1 October.

On the humanitarian front, the UN is working with its non-government organization partners to help Liberians on the move from an area known as Kakata outside of Monrovia, where the newly displaced said they fled in fear that skirmishes would break out. A nearby camp is being prepared for them.

The UN World Food Programme said it was reaching its target of feeding 150,000 people in Monrovia, including those in the Samuel K. Doe stadium. WFP said another ship carrying 2,000 tons of supplies has docked.