"Defeated Politicians Want to Seize Power" - Liberian Justice Minister Reveals

Cllr. Frances Johnson-Morris, Liberian Justice Minister


01 June 2007 -- Who is plotting to overthrow the government of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, or is the government simply crying wolf? Ever since her inauguration as Africa’s first elected female president, Johnson Sirleaf’s government has been making claims that certain groups were planning to overthrow her government.


The latest came from Justice Minister Frances Johnson-Morris. She said defeated politicians from last October’s general elections have been conniving with disgruntled soldiers of the the Liberian army to seize power by military means.


The opposition has accused the government of crying wolf, saying it should arrest and prosecute the so-called coup plotters or stop crying wolf. But Justice Minister Johnson-Morris told VOA the government hasi preponderance of evidence.
“That statement was made by me, and we have sufficient evidence to prove that there are people who are planning and plotting to cause unrest in the country or to stage a coup. We have sufficient information to establish that,” she said.
Johnson-Morris dismissed some opposition members’ claims who urged the government to either use its so-called evidence to either arrest the alleged coup plotters or stop putting fear in the Liberian people.
“At an appropriate time, the government of Liberia will expose the names of those persons and individuals involved in this plan. We are gathering our evidence, making sure that everything is water-tight and irrefutable before we can disclose the names of the individuals concerned,” Johnson-Morris said.
The leader of the opposition Liberty Party, Charles Brumskine, said in a statement that the Liberian government should realize that its repeated allegation of a coup plan creates an air of instability in an already fragile environment. He called on the government to stop crying wolf. But Johnson-Morris said the government is not crying wolf.
“No, we are not crying wolf at all. This is not a story that is being made up by the government. As I said earlier, we have adequate evidence to prove that there are people. Unfortunately, we thought everyone was on the same page about our determination to move our country forward and restore normalcy and stability to the country. But unfortunately there are those among us who are not prepared and ready for peace,” she said.
Johnson-Morris said some of the alleged coup plotters are both in and outside Liberia, and she rejects opposition accusation that her government’s claims might be scaring investors away from Liberia.
“Some of them are in and some people are outside the country. And don’t worry you will soon get to hear the full details of the plot. This is not a fairy tale that I’m telling you. No one will take pleasure in scaring away investors just trying to stare up rumors that are not true,” Johnson-Morris said.
She rejects opposition allegations that the Liberian government might be employing the same tactics used by previous Liberian governments like Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor when they tried to implicate their serious opposition or those who might have fallen out with the government in some kind of a coup plot.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m not aware of any group of people that the government doesn’t like. I’m not aware that this government has such agenda. We’re not interested in that. I’m giving you facts. I don’t know that this government has fallen out with anyone for that matter,” Johnson-Morris said.


Source: VOA News

Sierra Leone: Questions and Answers on Charles Taylor's Trial Before the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Human Rights Watch (Washington, DC)
PRESS RELEASE31 May 2007Posted to the web 31 May 2007

1. Who is Charles Taylor?
From 1989 to 1997, Charles Taylor led the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), a rebel group that sought to unseat Liberia's then-president, Samuel K. Doe, and later to take over control of the country. Taylor gained international notoriety for the brutal abuses of civilians perpetrated by his NPFL forces in Liberia, and for use of child soldiers organized by the NPFL into "Small Boy Units." On July 19, 1997, the conflict ended when Charles Taylor was elected president of Liberia in an election in which there was an implicit threat that Taylor would resume fighting if he lost.

Charles Taylor's presidency, which lasted from 1997 to 2003, was characterized by intolerance of dissent and harassment of the press, civil society and political opposition. Meanwhile, these and other human rights abuses were accompanied by near-total impunity. Ultimately, this repression fueled the formation of two rebel groups and, in 1999, a return to armed conflict in Liberia. Following rebel incursions into the Liberian capital Monrovia, Taylor was forced from office in August 2003.
Forces under Taylor's command have also been implicated in supporting and participating in armed conflicts, cross-border raids and human rights abuses in neighboring countries, including Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. Taylor has been charged with responsibility for serious international crimes and is now facing trial, in part because forces allegedly under his command have been implicated in supporting and participating in human rights abuses in Sierra Leone.
2. What is the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the court that is trying Charles Taylor?
The Special Court for Sierra Leone is an ad hoc international-national court, referred to as a "hybrid" or "mixed" international tribunal. The court was established in 2002 through an agreement between the United Nations and the Sierra Leonean government.
As a "hybrid" model of international tribunal, the Special Court has features that differ from those found in other international tribunals like the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. These include a bench composed of Sierra Leonean and international judges and staff, and authority over domestic as well as international crimes. The court, based in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown, is located in the country where the crimes were committed.
The court's mandate is to "prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law" committed in Sierra Leone and also violations of Sierra Leonean law committed in the country. Although Sierra Leone's conflict lasted from 1991 to 2002, the court can only hear cases of crimes committed since 1996. The crimes under the court's mandate include crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, such as recruitment of child soldiers.
Aside from Taylor, the Special Court is currently trying eight individuals in three separate trials. The accused are associated with three warring factions during Sierra Leone's conflict: the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and the Civil Defence Forces (CDF). In the trials of the accused associated with the CDF and AFRC, which began in June 2004 and March 2005 respectively, the presentation of the cases is complete and the judges are expected to issue verdicts in the next couple of months. In the trial of the accused associated with the RUF, which began in July 2004, the defense began presentation of its case in May 2007.
3. What is Taylor charged with?
Taylor is charged by the Special Court for Sierra Leone with 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Sierra Leone. The alleged crimes cover murdering and mutilating civilians, including cutting off their limbs, using women and girls as sex slaves, abducting adults and children, and forcing them to perform forced labor or become fighters during Sierra Leone's conflict.
Taylor is charged on the basis of his alleged role as a major backer of the Sierra Leone rebel group the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), his links with senior leaders in the RUF and a second warring faction, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, and responsibility for Liberian forces fighting in support of the Sierra Leonean rebels.
The specific counts against Taylor are:- Five counts of war crimes: terrorizing civilians, murder, outrages on personal dignity, cruel treatment, and looting;
- Five counts of crimes against humanity: murder, rape, sexual slavery, mutilating and beating, and enslavement; and
- One count of other serious violations of international humanitarian law: recruiting and using child soldiers.Taylor is being charged with individual criminal responsibility for the crimes on several legal bases. First, Taylor allegedly participated in the commission of the crimes by planning, instigating, and ordering them; aiding and abetting them by providing military training and support to the RUF and AFRC; and participating in the execution of a plan to take control of Sierra Leone during which the crimes were committed. Second, he allegedly was a superior to perpetrators of the crimes and failed to take reasonable measures to prevent or punish the crimes while knowing or having reason to know about them.
Taylor was initially charged with 17 counts, but the indictment was amended in March 2006 to 11 counts.Taylor is the first president of an African state to be indicted on serious crimes under international law by an internationalized criminal court.
4. How did Taylor come into the custody of the Special Court and where will his trial take place?
In June 2003, the Special Court made public an indictment against Taylor while he was attending peace talks in Ghana related to armed conflict in Liberia. Taylor immediately returned to Liberia, but following rebel incursions in the Liberian capital Monrovia, Taylor agreed to step down as president. He then went to Nigeria in August 2003, where he was offered safe haven by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Taylor remained in Calabar, Nigeria, for nearly three years, during which Nigeria's president rejected calls to surrender Taylor for trial. However, in March 2006, Liberia's newly elected president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, requested Obasanjo to surrender Taylor, and Obasanjo agreed. Obasanjo did not arrest Taylor, though, and he disappeared almost immediately. Nevertheless, on March 29, 2006, Taylor was apprehended by Nigerian police near Nigeria's border with Cameroon. He was then transported to Liberia, where he was taken into UN custody and transferred to the Special Court in Freetown.
Although the Special Court for Sierra Leone is based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Taylor's trial will take place in The Hague at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is lending its facilities to the Special Court for Sierra Leone. (See question 6 for explanation of why Taylor's trial was relocated).
5. When will Taylor's trial begin and how long will it last?
The start date for Taylor's trial was initially set for April 2, 2007, but was rescheduled to begin on June 4, 2007 to give the defense more time to prepare.
On June 4, the prosecutor will provide an opening statement after which the trial will be adjourned until June 25. The judges granted this additional postponement in order to allow the defense counsel several weeks more to prepare on the basis that the defense had lost this amount of preparation time due to suspended consultations between counsel and Taylor between March 5 and 22. Defense counsel suspended these consultations, which should be confidential, as video surveillance was being conducted in the space where the meetings took place.
Trials for serious crimes under international law, and especially of leaders, can be time-intensive. The cases are complex, and ensuring the accused receives the full range of fair trial protections in accordance with international standards can take time. Human Rights Watch believes it is crucial for the court to ensure that Taylor's trial is scrupulously fair. An unfair trial would lack legitimacy and credibility, while fair proceedings will help ensure that the trial plays its role in building respect for the rule of law in West Africa.
The Special Court's prosecutor, Stephen Rapp, has estimated that Taylor's trial will last between 12 and 18 months.
6. Why is Taylor's trial taking place in The Hague?
Taylor's trial was relocated to The Hague on the basis of a request by the Special Court's president immediately following Taylor's surrender in March 2006. The request to the Dutch government cited concerns over stability in West Africa if the trial was held in Sierra Leone. The Netherlands agreed to the relocation on several conditions, including that another country would offer facilities to incarcerate Taylor in the event he is convicted.Despite initial delays and reluctance for any country to volunteer, on June 15, 2006, the United Kingdom announced an offer to incarcerate Taylor if he is convicted. The UN Security Council then passed a resolution to provide a legal basis for the relocation, another of the conditions set by the Netherlands.
7. Does the fact that Taylor's trial is taking place in The Hague pose special challenges?
The relocation of Taylor's trial to The Hague creates new challenges in ensuring that people in West Africa will know about developments in the proceedings. But the Special Court is planning important actions to ensure the proceedings are accessible to West Africans, including:- Facilitating attendance of journalists and civil society representatives from Liberia and Sierra Leone on a rotating basis at proceedings in The Hague;
- Preparing video and audio summaries of Taylor's trial for dissemination throughout Sierra Leone; and Making broadcasts of Taylor's trial available at the court's premises in Freetown.
Human Rights Watch believes it is critically important that the Special Court's work be accessible to the communities most affected by the crimes. The Special Court has consistently implemented robust outreach and communications programming to inform people in Sierra Leone about the court.
8. How has Human Rights Watch been involved in ensuring justice in Sierra Leone?
Since 1998, Human Rights Watch researchers have extensively documented serious human rights violations committed by all warring factions, and pressed for the perpetrators of the crimes to be held accountable. Human Rights Watch maintained a field office in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from 1999 to 2002. From 1998-2007, Human Rights Watch released a series of reports detailing abuses to raise public awareness about them.Human Rights Watch pressed for justice to be done and the creation of the Special Court. Since the court's establishment, Human Rights Watch has assessed the work of the court through on-site visits and interviews with court staff, defense counsel, and Sierra Leonean civil society. Human Rights Watch has issued two reports on the court's work that detail the court's accomplishments to bringing justice for crimes in Sierra Leone. The reports also made recommendations to improve court operations, for example, in terms of in the areas of witness protection and resources for the defense.
Human Rights Watch has consistently pressed for the Special Court to receive sufficient funding. The court is not funded by contributions from UN member states and has been forced to rely on voluntary contributions, although it has received some grants from the United Nations. The court's funding remains uncertain and inadequate.
While Taylor was in Nigeria, Human Rights Watch actively pressed for his surrender to face trial. Human Rights Watch worked with a coalition of international and West African civil society groups toward this end. Human Rights Watch will attend the opening of Taylor's trial in The Hague and assess the proceedings throughout their duration.

Sirleaf, Blair, Kabah meet in Freetown: Hold Bilateral talks

(FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, May 31, 2007): Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says Africa must take responsibility for maintaining peace on the continent. The President said, long gone are the days of the non-interference, when Africa countries stood by while conflicts engulfed their neighbors. The events of recent years, President Johnson Sirleaf observed, have proven that if provided adequate support, Africa could ably tackle conflict situations on the continent.
According to Presidential Press Secretary, Cyrus Wleh Badio, who traveled with the President to Freetown, the Liberian leader made the remarks when she addressed local and foreign journalists on the outskirts of the Sierra Leonean capital, following bilateral talks with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
President Sirleaf lauded Prime Minister Blair for the stance taken in the Sierra Leonean conflict when that country intervened to stop the carnage five years ago. Sierra Leonean President, Tejan Kabbah was also full of praises for the Outgoing Prime Minister and his country’s assistance in helping Sierra Leone recover from years of destruction.
Mr. Blair concurred with the two Mano River Union leaders, saying his country’s intervention helped stop those he referred to as gangsters, criminals and terrorists, who raped women and created mayhem in the country. “Had we fail to intervene’ the Prime Minister argued ‘the impact would have been grave not only for this country or the region but for the world.” No matter how tough and detrimental the decision is, the British Prime Minister said, it is better to intervene than wait until a conflict spills out of control.
Mr. Blair said, he shared President Johnson Sirleaf’s view that Africa must take responsibility for peace on the continent. Developed countries, the British Prime Minister said, must however, provide funding, training, equipment and logistics to ensure the mission’s success.
He praised the level of progress taking place in Liberia and Sierra-Leone and urged the West to step
Blair, Kabah and Sirleaf at news conference in Freetown
Pres. Sirleaf and Tony Blair in Freetown
Presidents Sirleaf of Liberia and Kabah of Sierra Leone
up and support ongoing initiatives. On Sierra-Leone, the Prime Minister acknowledged the challenges facing the country, but said much progress has been made compared to what obtained five years ago when the country was being taken over by gangsters. “Politics is all about making a difference, and I believe a difference has been made in Sierra-Leone.”
The meeting with the British Prime Minister, by President Johnson Sirleaf, is the latest round of discussions with leading members of the G-8, ahead the Group’s upcoming meeting in Germany in June. Liberia is seeking the waiver of its multi-lateral debt owed the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank.
The President last week held talks in Berlin with the German Chancellor, Angela Markel and the new French President Nicholas Sakozy. President Johnson Sirleaf returned to Monrovia Wednesday evening following the discussions with Mr. Blair.

Source: Cyrus Wleh BadioPress Secretary to Pres. Sirleaf

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.