October 5, 2002

Fighting has died down, and the government has lifted the state of emergency. The government appears to be gathering more forces. LURD claims that the government is hiring former Sierra Leone RUF rebels to fight as mercenaries against LURD. Guinean troops have been going after what appear to be LURD troops pillaging for supplies along the Liberian border. Then again, the looters may have been Liberian troops or just bandit. It's often hard to tell the difference, because neither the army nor LURD always provides its fighters with food and other items on a timely basis.