Taylor's men tighten grip on Liberia's security

By Matthew Bunce

MONROVIA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - President Charles Taylor won power in Liberia in
1997 multi-party elections under a deal which envisaged national
reconciliation and a non-partisan army.

But a bloody crackdown by his Special Security Unit (SSU) on ethnic Krahn
supporters of one of his former civil war rivals has intensified charges that
Taylor reneged on promises to bring opponents into the security forces.

``That was not done,'' Taylor's wartime foe Roosevelt Johnson told Reuters
after barging into the U.S. embassy amid a hail of police gunfire before his
evacuation towards Nigeria on Friday.

Johnson may not be the most impartial of observers, but peacekeeping force
commanders also voice concern that elite units wielding most power are mainly
Taylor's former NPFL guerrillas in new blue and white camouflage.

Diplomats and relief workers agree Johnson is no saint. But they back
Johnson's other claim that up to 350 mainly ethnic Krahn people may have been
killed in blood-letting from September 18 to 20 which threatened to engulf the
U.S. embassy.

``Dead body collectors found people with hands tied behind their backs, which
indicates executions,'' one relief agency worker told Reuters after the
widespread reports of a massacre.

``We saw people unarmed people being shot in the street,'' said another at the
weekend, adding that reasons had not been clear.

Defence Minster Daniel Chea, displaying AK-47s assault rifles which he said
had been dug up from the Camp Johnson Krahn enclave, told Reuters such reports
were baseless. He said no more than 60 deaths had resulted from combat.

Taylor replies to talk of killings at a Camp Johnson church by blaming
Johnson's men for rape and murder during an orgy of violence, drinking and
kidnapping.

Residents told Reuters truckloads of dead bodies had been seen leaving the
district, in addition to bodies which relief workers say were trucked out from
morgues and another church.

``NGOs have counted 350,'' said one Western diplomat as relief workers planned
more investigations after reporting concerns to the United Nations.

Injured Krahns had avoided state hospitals while the ratio of dead to wounded
had been double the normal rate expected, relief workers told Reuters. Many
had been shot in the head.

Government denials have not damped a general impression that Taylor's elite
police and SSU units have a free reign as Taylor moves to secure his grip on
office and woo investors.

The commander of West African ECOMOG troops securing Monrovia, General Timothy
Shelpidi, described SSU units roaming with AK-47s and rocket-propelled
grenades as completely out of control.

``(SSU) are roaming around on streets carrying out isolated operations and
terrorising people,'' he said at his Monrovia base before a move to
neighbouring Sierra Leone to crush rebels there.

``The officers are not in control of their men,'' he added, referring to
former child warriors, some in their early teens, who now guard Taylor's
Executive Mansion government building.

Liberians say the greeting: ``I am from the Mansion,'' is a sure sign of
danger.

Hundreds of men marked for training as customs and immigration officials at
the Scheflin training area outside Monrovia since January had left with blue-
white camouflage and black police dress, Shelpidi said.

``That is where the recruiting and training is taking place,'' he said.

Endless checkpoints -- and bribes to SSU -- are a tiring feature of daily life
for Liberians glad for peace.

Taylor said on Friday he would raise border security with Sierra Leone's
government after claiming camps there had sent men to help Johnson mount an
alleged coup attempt.

Relief workers say Sierra Leonean rebel fighters loyal to jailed Sierra
Leonean Revolutionary United Front rebel leader Foday Sankoh, a Taylor ally,
operate from a massive Liberian camp for refugees at Vahun.

15:16 09-28-98


Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.  All rights reserved.  Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.  Reuters
shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any
actions taken in reliance thereon.  All active hyperlinks have been inserted
by AOL.