Three to five people were killed in a shootout between government troops and rebel fighters in Monrovia, before ECOMIL peacekeepers arrived at the scene in armored cars and calmed the situation down. Rebel LURD chairman Sekou Damate Conneh was being escorted in a 35-vehicle convoy to meet Liberia's Interim President Moses Blah when a crowd in the eastern Gardnersville suburb confronted the convoy, blocking its further movement. In an attempt to clear the road, the rebels were confronted by government troops. When the soldiers threw stones, the rebels pulled out AK-47s and grenade launchers stashed in their vehicles and opened fire. Soldiers from nearby Congo town joined in the 20 minute fray.
Meanwhile, the 3,500-strong ECOMIL force were swapping their green helmets for the blue of the UN peace force (UNMIL). These West African soldiers became the core of UN force, which will eventually number 15,000 soldiers and has an initial mandate of one year. There were also 1,100 international policemen signed up to retrain and restructure the country's security and police system. The ECOMIL forces were mostly limited to Monrovia and it's immediate suburbs, but when at full strength, UNMIL will be able to cover the entire country.
Nigeria has contributed the bulk of the soldiers for the force currently deployed in Liberia, with Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal and Togo contributing troops. Jacques Klein, the UN Secretary General's representative to Liberia, claimed that 15 countries had expressed interest in contributing troops to UNMIL (including Ethiopia, Ireland, Namibia, Morocco and "some" European countries).
Kenyan born Lieutenant General Ishamel Opande has been appointed the UNMIL Force Commander, after having led UNSAMIL in Sierra Leone and being involved in the disarmament of over seventy thousand rebels. Opande, a graduate of Britain's Sandhurst Academy, has served in the Congo, Mozamibique and Namibia and was Chief Military Observer in Liberia. Opande promptly warned Liberia's warring groups to strictly stick to the 18 August Peace Agreement they all signed in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. - Adam Geibel
