Dweh, Others Denounced as Bryant Remains Firm

16 May 04

The rebel Liberian United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), the largest of the two rebel groups, is now heading for an official split, with key members from Lofa County denouncing largely  Southeastern members and accusing interim Speaker George Dweh of schemes to stall disarmament.

The six key members  from Lofa County, including Transport Minister Dr. Vamba Kanneh, Labor Minister Cllr.  Laveli Supuwood, Deputy Planning Minister Edward Sali and two frontline Generals Jacob Liberty and Joseph Nyumah, in a statement Sunday, revealed plans allegedly hatched at a meeting held at the residence of Mr. Dweh to order LURD fighters in Lofa to stop disarming and to disrupt the peace process.  Lofa County was the springboard for the war against Charles Taylor, and it served as LURD's headquarters, opening it to catastrophic destruction.

The Lofa Lurd members  described the alleged Dweh-others'plot as “wicked””, and warned Dweh of drastic consequences in a event he does not abandon his alleged designs. They said the people of Lofa were greatly affected by the civil conflict, and that no ploy to prolong Lofa  County's plight  would be tolerated.

Dweh and some Executive Committee members of the rebel group have been agitating for the removal of Finance Minister Lusenii Kamara. Following the expiration of the 24 hours ultimatum to Transitional Chairman Gyude Bryant Friday, the rebel leaders, mostly hailing from the Krahn tribe, announced a suspension of all cooperation with the transitional government.

But Chairman Bryant Saturday rejected the calls by the rebel executives, saying following consultations with ECOWAS and other facilitators of the Liberian peace process, Minister Kamara would not be remove from office.

An Executive Mansion statement said Mr. Kamara could not be removed without any just cause, such as administrative malfeasance, disrespect for government policies and financial misappropriation. Bryant said that Mr. Kamara was enjoying the confidence of all international financial institutions and as such it was inconceivable to remove him without no justifiable reasons.

Bryant quoted ECOWAS as saying that the removal of Kamara would serve as a dangerous precedence that may lead to endless request by LURD and other factions for the removal of nominees a move that could stall the ongoing peace process.

Meanwhile, eight fighter of the LURD rebels movement who are bodyguards to Chairman Seku Conneh are in police detention here upon the alleged orders of Dweh. Police sources told the New Democrat today that Dweh had alleged that the fighters had threatened his life.

But a spokesman of the eight fighters said that their detention followed their refusal to heed orders from Dweh to stall the disarmament process

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