Liberian Rebel Group Captures Buchanan: Report

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Liberian Rebel Group Captures Buchanan: Report

A rebel group has captured Buchanan,a major port in Liberia, according to reports reaching Lagos on Monday, while defense minister insisted government troops still control part of the city.

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A rebel group has captured Buchanan,a major port in Liberia, according to reports reaching Lagos on Monday, while defense minister insisted government troops still control part of the city.

The Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), the second biggest rebel group which is based in southeastern part of the country, took control of Buchanan, 100 km southeast of the capitalMonrovia, after a fierce fight with the government army, accordingto the reports.

However, Liberian Defense Minister Daniel Chea said the government forces were still in control of at least part of the city, saying "we are controlling the west part of the town (and) the crossroad leading to Monrovia."

The MODEL, formed in March, in conjunction with the major rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), have hold two-thirds of Liberia, both demand President Charles Taylor to step down.

Facing the current crisis in Liberia, military chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Monday attended a meeting in Accra, capital of Ghana, to discuss when to deploy Nigeria 's peacekeeping troops to Liberia where fighting between government force and rebels became fiercer in recent days.

The Nigerian government has promised to send two battalions of 1,500 soldiers to stop 14-year bloody civil war in Liberia.

Also on Monday, the European Union (EU) called on for the swiftdeployment of an international peacekeeping force in Liberia and said it was ready to consider support for such a force.

Meanwhile according to US State Department, Walter Kansteiner, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, left for West Africa on Monday for talks on the war in Liberia and the proposed West African peacekeeping force which the United States has promised to support.

He would meet West African leaders on the trip, said US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

Fighting between the Liberia government troops and the rebel LURD has become fiercer and tougher in recent days as mortar shells bombarded at Monrovia's diplomatic area around the US embassy, with two mortar shells hit the US embassy.

The new round of fighting which erupted a week ago has claimed more than 1,000 lives and some 200,000 people displaced.

Residents in the capital Monrovia are now faced miserable live as only little food and clean water are available.

The Liberian civil war, which lasted more than 14 years and claimed at least 200,000 lives, flared up again in 1998 following attacks launched by the LURD rebels in northern Liberia.

Civil war over the past decade has made Liberia among the most miserable places in the world and the latest unrest since 1998 hasforced some 300,000 Liberians to flee to neighboring countries andclaimed thousands more lives.

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