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UN Secretary-General expresses concerns at disturbances in Liberia

UN Secretary-General expresses concerns at disturbances in Liberia

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his concerns today about disturbances in Liberia since the formal launch at the weekend of the West African country’s disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and rehabilitation (DDRR) programme.

For a third straight day, the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) reported episodes of random shooting yesterday by ex-combatants demanding the immediate payment of a stipend for handing in their weapons.

UNMIL said the shootings occurred at disarmament sites – Camp Schieffelin, 56 kilometres east of Monrovia, the capital, and in Monrovia itself – in a country that is recovering from years of civil war.

The Secretary-General “wishes to stress that the leaders of the armed factions are responsible for the behaviour of their combatants and calls upon them to cooperate fully with UNMIL,” a UN spokesman in New York said in a statement.

Mr. Annan called on Member States to make available the troops they pledged for UNMIL so that a more secure environment can be established in Liberia.

UNMIL also confirmed that one of its peacekeepers from Benin had suffered minor injuries after shots were fired in the red-light area of Paynesville yesterday.