LIBERIAN GOV'T LIFTS BAN ON INDEPENDENCE NEWSPAPER

Recent ban imposed on the Independence Newspaper by the Liberian Government for publishing what the government called “obscene photographs” of former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Mr. Willis Knuckles having sex with two unidentified women has been lifted.
Announcing the lifting of the ban yesterday evening, Liberia’s Information Minister, Rev. Dr. Lawrence M. Bropleh said the action to lift the ban on the paper was in keeping with the Ministry’s statuary mandate to serve as the regulator and enforcement body of the Government in all matters affecting communication in Liberia.
He said the Government of Liberia respects the right to freedom of expression, but at the same times acknowledges the responsibility that goes along with it. The Liberian Information also said the revocation of the paper’s operational license was in keeping with Chapter 31.8 of the ministry’s mandate.
Chapter 31.8 gives the Ministry of Information the responsibility of formulating regulations affecting journalists and journalism in Liberia, and to ensure the highest possible standard of professional competence.
Speaking to our Correspondent in the Liberian Capital immediately after the ban imposed on his paper by the Liberian Government was lifted, the Managing Editor of the paper, Sam O. Dean said he had not regret for his paper publishing what the Liberian described as “obscene photographs”, but instead he did perform his professional duty; informing and educating the reading public.
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Charges Against Ex-First Lady of Ghana to be Reduced

Madam Nana

Konadu Agyeman

Rawlings

Accra, GNA - Prosecution in the case of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, a former First Lady and five others alleged to have willfully caused financial loss to the state in respect of the divestiture of the GIHOC Cannery at Nsawam, said charges against them would be substituted.
Ms. Gertrude Aikins, Chief State Attorney and Acting Director for Public Prosecution, explained that the original charges which were made up of 30 counts would be reduced to nine.
The other five accused persons are Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, a former Executive Secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), Thomas Benson Owusu, a former Accountant of the DIC, Kwame Peprah, a former Minister of Finance and former Chairman of the DIC, Sherry Ayittey, Managing Director of Carridem Development Company Limited, property of 31 December Women's Movement and Carridem as an entity.
They are variously charged with 30 counts of conspiracy, causing financial loss to public property, conspiracy to obtain public property by false statement and obtaining public property by false statement. They have all denied the offences and have been admitted to self-recognisance bail.
Earlier, Georgina Okaitey, General Manager, Larry Adjetey, Director Secretary and George Mould, a Director all of Carridem, were discharged at the instance of prosecution.
The accused persons were alleged to have caused loss to public property running into billions of cedis, following the acquisition of state-owned GIHOC Cannery at Nsawam by Caridem Development Company Limited.
This, the prosecution had stated that the accused persons failed to complete interest payment, which accrued on the purchase price of the cannery. The case has been adjourned for tomorrow, June 1.

As British P.M. Visit Freetown, Dozens of witnesses Expressed Interest To Testify Against Charles Taylor war crimes

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Dozens of witnesses will be called in Charles Taylor's trial to link the former Liberian president to atrocities committed during Sierra Leone's civil war in the 1990s, Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp said Wednesday.
Those witnesses include insiders claiming to have seen Taylor instigate and give orders leading to war crimes, Rapp said.
The long-awaited trial begins Monday with the prosecution's four-hour opening statement, then will adjourn until June 25 when it will hear the first of the 150 witnesses the prosecution plans to summon to the stand.
Taylor's defense will give its opening statement after the prosecution rests its case, in about one year, Rapp said. The trial should take about 18 months before the judges retire to consider their verdict.
Taylor, 59, is facing 11 charges of terrorism, murder, rape, sexual slavery, mutilation and recruiting child soldiers. He has pleaded innocent to all counts.

He was arrested last year and flown to the Netherlands amid fears that staging his trial in Sierra Leone, where the court usually sits, could trigger fresh unrest or even attempts by his supporters to break him out of prison.
Of the 150 scheduled prosecution witnesses, 62 will testify "to Taylor's control, to his orders, to his instigation, to his plans, to his provision of assistance of arms, training, safe refuge to the rebels, with full knowledge of the atrocities they were committing to the civilian population," he told the Netherlands-based Foreign Press Association.
Some of those witnesses were from Taylor's inner circle. Some may have shared responsibility for crimes, but were not being prosecuted because the court chose to pursue only those most responsible, he said.
Most of them will testify under pseudonyms to protect their identities from public disclosure, though the defense will know who they are. Some will be eligible for relocation after the trial to avoid retribution.
During a pretrial hearing three weeks ago, defense attorney Karim Khan said potential witnesses feared leaving Sierra Leone to testify on Taylor's behalf for fear of identifying themselves as his associates and exposing themselves to possible U.N. sanctions.
Khan also complained that the two defense lawyers and three legal aides were outgunned by the 10-man prosecution team. Taylor, although he was reported to have stashed away huge wealth from his years in power, has declared himself unable to pay for his own defense team and relies on court-appointed counsel.
Operating from his residence in Monrovia known as White Flower, Taylor never entered Sierra Leone during the conflict, making it a challenge for the prosecution to link him to the actions of rebel forces.
"We don't say he chopped off any hands himself. We don't say he shot anybody himself," Rapp said. "We have a variety of evidence showing that these people (the rebels) viewed Taylor as the boss man, as the person responsible," Rapp said.
The upheaval in West Africa "was a kind of terrorism," he said. "It was, in our view, a systematic attack against civilians with the intent to take control of Sierra Leone."
The Special Court for Sierra Leone has no maximum sentence. Life imprisonment is not in its statute, but Taylor could be sentenced to a term that would leave him jail for his expected lifetime. Under a U.N. sanctioned agreement, Britain has agreed to imprison him if he is convicted.

Liberia President Vetoes Financial Autonomy Act, As Parliament Speaker Cite Colleagues

President Ellen Johnson has vetoed the controversial Financial Autonomy Act submitted to her office by the National Legislature for her approval.

President Sirleaf said the Act was not interest of the country and people, and was a violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia. In her veto message to the Senate, President Sirleaf said the Act violates Article 2 and 34 of the Constitution.

Financial Autonomy Act seeks to make quarterly disbursements of their budget and would not be subject to tax deduction, but rather increase. There has been mounting public criticisms of the Act which some citizens described as being very “selfish” and “inconsiderate.”

Prior to the submission of the Act to her office, President Sirleaf had forewarned that she would out rightly reject it. The lawmakers argued that they want to control their own budget to avoid the many bureaucratic and embarrassing procedures they go through to get their own money they work for.

But President Sirleaf has said a Legislative Bureau would be established at the Ministry of Finance to handle the lawmaker’s problem rather than enacting an Act that is not in the interest of the state. The Senate has meanwhile set up a committee to look into the President’s bulky veto letter.

In Baghdad Mahdi Army 'seized kidnapped Britons'

Police In Baghdad searches a Vehicle


A Shia militia commander claimed today that the five British nationals kidnapped in Baghdad were driven straight into a hostage holding centre in a neighbourhood ruled by the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

A cell commander in Sadr's Mahdi Army, the militia suspected of orchestrating the kidnapping, told The Daily Telegraph that the five men were taken to the centre near Mudafra Square in Sadr City, the Iraqi capital's biggest Shia district.

He claimed that the order to seize the hostages, who were visiting the finance ministry in central Baghdad, was handed down by Hassan Salim, the leading figure in the Mahdi Army militia in Sadr City.

"We are holding the British until they release our brothers from Camp Buca in Basra," he said. "There are hundreds there under British security, some of them for years. When they are released the British will be allowed to go."
However, other Mahdi Army spokesmen denied that the powerful militia played any part in the kidnappings.

The contradictory messages followed raids by Iraqi and American troops in Sadr City, Baghdad's largest Shia neighbourhood, in an operation that ended early today. Residents said areas of Sadr City were sealed off and several arrests were made.

Iraqi forces have established a special battalion of soldiers and police officers to search for the kidnapped men. "We are conducting search operations near the site where the abduction took place," said Brig Gen Qassim al Musawi, an Iraqi army spokesman.

"Maybe today or in the coming few days, we will find them with the help of secret intelligence."
Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said British officials were doing all they could to secure the "swift and safe release" of the Britons.
Mrs Beckett said it was a very distressing time for all those concerned, and that the Foreign Office was providing assistance to the abducted men's families.

Later Tony Blair, speaking on a trip to Sierra Leone, said: "We know the dangers and challenges [in Iraq], we shouldn't let those who are prepared to use kidnapping and terrorism succeed."
Canon Andrew White, an Anglican clergyman in Baghdad, shares a compound with employees of the GardaWorld security firm, four of whom were snatched along with a computer expert they were protecting.

He said today that he had been in contact with the Mahdi Army and suspected the kidnap was carried out in revenge for the killing last week of a leading figure from the militia group in a joint Iraqi-British operation in the southern Shia city of Basra.
"We now see that there is very likely a connection between these two," he said.
The Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, said he suspected that Mahdi militiamen were the most likely candidates behind the kidnappings and were probably assisted by local police. Dozens of gunmen wearing paramilitary police uniforms kidnapped the men on Tuesday.
Mr Zebari told the BBC: "The location is of interest to everybody. It's near Sadr City, which is a Shia-dominated area controlled mainly by... the Mahdi Army, who have been very active there." He described the raid as a "sophisticated operation".
"The number of people who were involved in the operation to seal off the building, to set roadblocks and to get into the building with such confidence must have some connections," he said.
"There must be some unholy, unruly militias working beyond the law in that area, with this connection with the local police, to be able kidnap these people."
Mr Zebari said the kidnappings highlighted the persistent problem of infiltration of Iraqi security forces by militias.
"It has been a known fact for some time that the interior ministry police, security units and forces are corrupt, are penetrated," he said.



"This issue is a very serious, challenging fact to the government itself."
The men have yet to be named and no demands have been made by the kidnappers, who could yet prove to be independent of the mainstream Shia militias.
It is feared that a renegade, criminal Shia group could sell on the men to another organisation such as al-Qa'eda.

In London, the Cobra committee of senior security officials is meeting again today to discuss the crisis in the Iraqi capital, where SAS soldiers are on standby to mount a rescue mission.
GardaWorld provides personal protection services from a compound in Baghdad's Green Zone.
The raid marks the first time that Westerners have been snatched from a government building in Iraq.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003. Almost a third have been executed by their captors, including the British contractor Ken Bigley and the humanitarian worker Margaret Hassan.

Liberian Women in U.S. Presents 7th Annual Miss Liberia

"We will fight to remove corrupt figures" - VP Tells Liberians in U.S.

The Vice President of the Republic of Liberia in his first visit to the United States of America since elections, addressed the 17th convention of the Grand Gedeh Associations held in the city of Des Moines, Iowa.

The women of Grand Gedeh escorted the vice president from the entrance to the platform with song and dance and welcomed him to the program as characteristic of people from Grand Gedeh.

The Vice President during his prepared text emphasized that the visit was on invitation from the Grand Gedeh Association and used the occasion to trace his relationship with the people to the leadership of a son of the county, former president Samuel K. Doe. The VP is a former Minister of Agriculture during the administration of President Samuel K Doe who originated from Grand Gedeh county. The VP’s speech which was filled with the reconciliation message also described the process of reconciliation, not as a banquet but a process. He further went on to recommend a search for mutuality to overcome the causes of conflict. With regards to the TRC, the VP averred that the process takes time and offered the audience a working definition of the TRC and how it works, what are the limits, and how it will be used to evaluate the pattern of abuses committed by alleged perpetrators, and how this process can contribute to development. Continuing, the VP admonished that the TRC is also designed to address issues of impunity, women’s issues and to help us in healing our wounds. He also stated in his speech that the UP lead government is committed to pursuing genuine national reconciliation and development of the country. He then promised that the government will fight corruption and will not relent in the removal of corrupt figures from the rank and file of the administration. With regards to the recent waves of deportation of Liberians from the US and the crimes associated, the VP expressed shock and dismay that Liberians are now involved in such heinous crimes within such an accepting society. Finally, he promised that the UP lead government has vowed to eradicate poverty and enforce good governance making Liberia a place where Liberians are known by a name and not a number and finally quoting scripture saying, “Where one or two are gathered…” Before the arrival of the VP, the MC of the program Mr. Willie Par Branch provided a brief synopsis of the history of the Liberian vice presidency, reciting the history of various vice presidents up to the current one. The president then traveled to Minnesota where he held a town hall style meeting with the Liberian community in the state.

NEW NIGERIAN PRESIDENT SWORN IN, AS OBASANJO TELLS 'GOODBYE'

(bbcnews)Umaru Yar'Adua has been sworn in as Nigeria's new president at a colourful ceremony in the capital, Abuja.

Standing on a podium in a parade ground dressed in a white gown, Mr Yar'Adua was cheered by his supporters after he signed the oath of office.

The inauguration marks the first time in Nigeria's history that one civilian leader has taken over from another.

But his election was widely condemned as "not credible" and small protests were held in the largest city, Lagos.

"I, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, do solemnly swear that I will be faithful and hold allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria... That I will protect and defend the constitution," said Mr Yar'Adua, taking the oath from Chief Justice Idris Kutigi.

A few minutes previously, Goodluck Jonathan, from the troubled oil-producing Niger Delta region, was sworn in as vice-president.

Nigeria's 36 state governors have also taken their oaths of office around the country.

'Democracy is dead'

Security was tight in both Abuja and Lagos, with police setting up roadblocks.

In Lagos, the BBC's Umar Elleman says hundreds of protesters marched from Ikeja to the Yaba area, watched closely bThe protesters, led by activist Tunji Braithwaite, said they were mourning the death of democracy in Nigeria.

"Democracy is dead in Nigeria. So, we have come out on the streets to bury democracy," protester Justin Jalingo told the BBC.

Five of the protesters were arrested as they carried a mock coffin of outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo.

In Abuja, Mr Obasanjo was driven into Eagle Square for the ceremony in an open jeep, waving to spectators in the reviewing stands.

Anglican bishop Peter Akinola gave an opening prayer before military bands and Nigerian soldiers in dress uniforms performed a slow march around the square.

The crowd, containing several African leaders and foreign diplomats, was also entertained by a troupe of synchronised dancers and police motorcycle stunt riders.

The BBC's Alex Last in Abuja says President Yar'Adua will have to prove his independence from Mr Obasanjo, who picked his successor and remains chairman of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

He adds that Mr Yar'Adua inherits many challenges in Africa's most populous country and largest oil producer.

'Strengthened democracy'

Armstrong Adejo, a university teacher in Makurdi, Benue State in central Nigeria told the BBC: "I pray that God can transform him from a man with a questionable mandate into the leader we all crave."
A two-day strike called by trade unions in protest at alleged electoral fraud has so far received a muted response.

After many years of military rule, Mr Obasanjo was elected president in 1999 and served two four-year terms.

In his farewell address on Monday evening, Mr Obasanjo pledged his support for Mr Yar'Adua and his government, and said he was leaving the country with a strengthened democracy.

"We have run the longest democratic dispensation and eliminated the risk of violent changes of government through coups and counter-coups in our political culture," Mr Obasanjo said.

The election commission, Inec, has denied charges that it favored the PDP during last month's elections.

Mr Yar'Adua won a landslide victory in those polls, according to official results. He has promised to introduce electoral reforms.

The two main opposition candidates have challenged the results in court.

Africa Mercy hospital ship docks at Monrovia's port

"Mercy has arrived in Monrovia" said Don Stephens, founder of Mercy Ships of Garden Valley on Tuesday. Stephens spoke to the Tyler Morning Telegraph by phone from his stateroom on the Africa Mercy, the world's largest non-governmental hospital ship that docked in Monrovia, Liberia, that morning."

For years we've said (of the hospital ship) that 'mercy is coming, mercy is coming,'" Stephens said. "The sense I have on this very exciting day is that mercy has now arrived in Monrovia. Our mission is to deliver free world-class health care to the forgotten poor."Liberia's president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, will officially welcome Mercy Ships in a ceremony.

Africa Mercy docks with 474-member crew at the ship on Monday. Crew members and volunteers cheered and many were in tears, Stephens said, as the Africa Mercy docked near its sister-ship the Anastasis, the flagship for the Texas faith-based charity's medical mission for 29 years,The 16,500-ton Africa Mercy is 499 feet long and has six operating theatres, a 78-bed ward, dental clinic, CT scanner, X-ray room, pharmacy and berths for a 474-member crew."

A Swiss board member, Francoise Andre, onboard the Africa Mercy told me this was the most memorable day of her life," Stephens said. "This was significant because her husband's firm did the feasibility study for the Anastasis nearly 30 years ago.

They've been with us from the beginning."The purchase and conversion of the Africa Mercy, the former rail ferry Droning Ingrid, into a $62 million state-of-the-art hospital ship was funded by donations and gifts-in-kind, including a $10 million matching grant by the Swiss-based Oak Foundation, said Mercy Ships.

The first field service of the Africa Mercy will be led by a crew of more than 400 volunteer professionals from 30 nations, including doctors, dentists, nurses, community developers, teachers, builders, cooks, seamen and engineers.

In addition to donating their time, volunteers pay their own board costs to work on the Africa Mercy.Advance teams have already prescreened patients for the Africa Mercy, Stephens said."Tomorrow the medical volunteers will go over the schedule minute by minute," he said.

"What I'm going to do is visit the crews of each ship and express my gratitude to as many as I can meet."Flying to Liberia for the arrival of the ship, Stephens said he and his wife Deyon were approached by a Liberian man who's seen a BBC report on the new ship."

He was so grateful and told us the ship's effect 'will bless Liberia for decades to come,'" Stephens siad. "Many people on the plane were headed to Liberia on mission trips of their own, and were talking about the ship."The 53-year-old Anastasis, which means "resurrection" in Greek, will be retired this fall. It has served more than 275 ports, performed about 450,000 medical treatments and 200,000 operations for the charity since 1980.

"Seeing this day come fills me with gratitude to God and the faithful partners and staff who brought this to pass," Stephens said. "It prompts me to worship and get on my knees when I look over the three decades that Mercy Ships has been operating."

By PATRICK BUTLERReligion Editor - Tyler Paperreligion@tylerpaper.com

Armed Robbers Attack Church, Inflicting Wounds on Several Members

Following an attack on the Police chief Beatrice Munah Sieh’s in Bardnersville home, robbers armed with machetes and other dangerous implements last Friday attacked the New Georgia compound of the Philadelphia Free Pentecostal Church, inflicting severe wounds on two persons, taking away with them several valuables.

A day after that attack, a 59- years old sheriff of the Gardnersville Magisterial Court, Mr. Benedict N. Wiah, was attacked by men armed with machetes and pipes in the vicinity of the chicken poultry, New Georgia.

The attacks intensify as the Police launch its operation code name, “Locate & Dismantle Criminal Hide outs.

Mr. Moses Gleen, a deactivated Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) who is also one of the Security guards on duty at the Church’s premises, told the New Democrat that the group of men approached them in the middle of the night their handsets and everything they had on them.

He said at first they took the men to be Police officers on night patrol, but later realize they were far from being Police officers because of the demands they were making.

Mr. Gleen, “At this time, I had managed to escape with my military experienced but two men pursue me. Because I ran faster, I hid myself behind a palm tree, so they did not find me.”

He said that while in his hide out behind the palm tree, he could hear the shouts of his colleague calling for help. ‘He was being stabbed’, Gleen noted. He said, the shouts of my colleague constrain Patrick Sarwieh, a resident of the Church compound to come out and offer help but he was callously attacked.

Sarwieh is currently receiving treatment at the John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital where the Church authorities say his condition is critical.

In the case of 59 years old sheriff of the Gardnersville Magisterial Court, he was hit on Saturday attacked by men armed with machetes and pipes in the vicinity of the chicken poultry, New Georgia.

Mr. Wiah, who was left with a disjointed arm, told this paper that three men forced his door open and attacked him by 2AM while he was at sleep.

He said he believe the men were more than three because he heard other voices outside threatening his neighbors not to come out.