8 August: Nigerian peacekeepers in Liberia intercepted a
plane early Thursday carrying ten tons of ammunition
destined for forces loyal to Liberian President Charles
Taylor, according to IRIN, a United Nations information
service. The plane arrived before dawn at Roberts
International Airport outside of Monrovia. Taylor and his
Military Chief of Staff, General Benjamin Yeaten, went to
the airport personally to try and secure the release of the
cargo, which consisted of ammunition for AK-47 rifles and
rocket propelled grenades, but the Nigerians refused to
hand it over. IRIN quoted a military source as saying the
ammunition had been purchased abroad by Taylor's son
Chucky, in contravention of a U.N. arms embargo. It was
originally to have been delivered by ship to the port of
Buchanan, but due to the capture of Buchanan last week by
MODEL rebels, the ammunition was offloaded at an
undisclosed foreign port and flown to Liberia instead. Also
Thursday, Taylor told the television news service CNN that
he planned to go into exile in Nigeria, but that he would
continue to fight war crimes charges lodged against him by
the Special Court for Sierra Leone. "President Obasanjo and
other African leaders of the African Union and ECOWAS have
all seen the political nature of this case," Taylor said.
"They’ve looked at it and have seen that as African
brothers they ought to help the situation in Liberia where
I have volunteered to step down. They can see no reason why
I should be harassed, and have gone ahead to ask me to come
to Nigeria. I will go to Nigeria, God willing, but while
I’m there I expect that this issue will be dealt with.
However, I have not waited for that. I’ve just said that
we’ve filed papers, both in the court in Sierra Leone and
in the International Court of Justice challenging the
jurisdiction and legitimacy of this court." Meanwhile LURD
rebels besieging the capital have added new conditions for
opening Monrovia's port to aid agencies which are seeking
to bring desperately needed food and humanitarian supplies
into the capital. Sekou Fofana, a LURD representative in
Monrovia, told Reuters that Taylor's forces would have to
withdraw from the rest of the city. Fofana also threatened
that LURD would resume fighting if Taylor hands power over
to Vice President Moses Blah as planned, and if the
Liberian leader did not depart the country immediately
after stepping down. "If Moses Blah takes over, we will
fight back. We will definitely fight Moses Blah," he said,
adding that if Taylor did not leave on Monday, "things will
be tough again" for the Liberian people.

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