Liberia

Ghana's minister of interior, Malik Alhassan Yakubu, said a ship with 167 Liberians was denied entry into the country because it was carrying illegal immigrants, Ghana Radio reported on Thursday.

Liberia's president, Charles Taylor, his wife, son and two ex-wives head a list of 130 people banned by the United Nations Security Council from travelling abroad. The travel embargo is part of a sanctions package that went into force last month to punish Liberia for fomenting war by allegedly supplying guns to rebels in Sierra Leone in exchange for diamonds. It includes an arms ban as well as an embargo on diamonds exported from Liberia, where Taylor is alleged to head the illegal operations...read more

President Charles Taylor said on Tuesday that if West African leaders became complacent about the war in Lofa County, northern Liberia, the entire region could be endangered, the Liberian Ministry of Information reported. "We cannot be trying to solve the crisis in Sierra Leone while others are trying to support a new war in Liberia," he said, referring to reports that Liberian troops had seized British-made ammunition from anti-government forces in Lofa.

US President George W. Bush has prohibited the import of all rough diamonds from Liberia, the US State Department reported. Liberia is under UN sanctions for dealing in Sierra Leonean diamonds and otherwise supporting Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels.

Children fleeing fighting in Liberia's Lofa County and separated from their families are vulnerable to attacks by rebel and government forces while girls and women are being raped, Save the Children UK reported on Wednesday.

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