UN Secretary-General expresses concerns at disturbances in Liberia
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.