DATE=8/13/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= RYU Q&A

NUMBER=3-765

BYLINE= ALISHA RYU/AL PESSIN

DATELINE=MONROVIA/LONDON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Local residents looted food and other relief supplies from the rebel-held port of Monrovia on Wednesday, ahead of the expected deployment of Nigerian peacekeeping troops in the port area on Thursday. VOA's Alisha Ryu visited the port and described the scene to VOA's Al Pessin in London.

TEXT:

PESSIN: Alisha, I know you've just arrived at the port area of Monrovia, which is still under rebel control. Tell us what's going on down there.

RYU: Al, there are literally tens of thousands of people out in the streets. They are going down to the port area and they are stripping the port clean of just about everything there is. Everybody is carrying sacks of grain, sacks of cornmeal or rice or whatever has been stored down there. They are taking it and they are taking it to their homes. And, all the warehouses, the containers that were down there, I understand, are completely empty now. And, there is very, very little in terms of goods that are left inside of the ports. So, the good news is that the port will be taken over by the West African peacekeepers tomorrow. The bad news is they will have to start from scratch because there is absolutely nothing left.

PESSIN: Now, all of these people are taking the food supplies but these are not the people who are over in the government-held area who are so desperately short of food. Is that right?

RYU: That's correct. The people who really need the food are all on the government-held side. In fact, when we just came across the bridge there were still several hundred people including government forces who were begging us to come when we came over from this side to please bring us sacks of rice or whatever that you can find on the other side because we are so hungry. They are, literally, sitting by the bridge waiting for some kind of relief to come. But these are people who have had, these meaning the people who are on the rebel side, these are people who have had access to these kinds of goods for, you know, many months. But, I don't understand why the looting has begun now because they have, for the most part, left the port alone up until this point. But, I think, that because the LURD rebels had been told to withdraw from this area they feared that once the peacekeepers come in here they may not have access to these kinds of goods. They are taking it right now and they are not going to take any chances that they may not have access to it later.

PESSIN: Now, the United Nations says that it has a ship offshore ready to come in with fresh supplies as early as Thursday, once the peacekeepers take control of the port. Have you heard the same there?

RYU: We're not quite sure exactly what the humanitarian situation is in terms of how many ships will arrive and on what date. None of that has been given to us in terms of a clear date and time. I think what they're waiting is for the West African peacekeepers to come in here and secure the port before anything of that nature will be decided. I understand, also, from the LURD rebels that yes, they've been told to withdraw and they will withdraw but this is going to be a gradual withdrawal. They are not going to leave in one day. They say that this will be it takes over several days of withdrawing. Past the river which is about 50 kilometers from where they are now. And that's where they've been told to go past. So, it's unclear how many days it's going to take for before the West African peacekeepers are going to be able to secure the port enough so that humanitarian aid can start flowing in again without the chance of having everything looted like it is being looted today.

PESSIN: And, how was it that Thursday was decided upon as the day? Once the rebels agreed to allow the peacekeepers in, why didn't it happen immediately, which might have prevented this kind of looting?

RYU: It's interesting, I think that it was probably a compromise between the LURD rebels and the West African peacekeepers and U-S officials that have been trying to negotiate the opening of the ports for several days now, for several weeks I should say. They have said they would withdraw, they would open up the port once the peacekeepers arrive. Then they reneged on that promise and then they said, well we'll do it as soon as Taylor, Charles Taylor the former Liberian president, once he left, we will withdraw. That didn't happen and so I think then finally there was an ultimatum given. You have until Thursday to leave the port and I believe there was some U-S military muscle attached to that threat. And, they said okay fine we will leave but we'll leave on Thursday. And, I think that they said Thursday because they wanted to use today to loot.

PESSIN: Alisha, I know that you went to the seaport area from the airport where there were reports of fighting between government troops and another rebel group earlier today. Can you tell us what the situation was you found at the airport?

RYU: Yes, actually it wasn't the airport it was actually a checkpoint that was past the airport. There is a huge rubber plantation owned by the Firestone company and this is on the road to Buchanan the second largest city. When we went down there, there were quite a few of us journalists trying to get down there to Buchanan because we too had heard about this fighting and government forces told us that they were not fighting with MODEL rebels who have control of Buchanan. But it was actually a government upon government type of fighting. They were one faction of the government forces was fighting another faction of government forces down there and that's what the shooting was about. And, the people that were fleeing this morning from the Buchanan road coming up towards the airport were not actually fleeing rebel onslaughts but they were actually just fleeing from the fighting among the government forces themselves. We're not sure exactly what they were fighting about but apparently it was a bit of a firefight this morning. But, now it's under control and that road seems to be quite calm again.

PESSIN: Meanwhile, Alisha, can you describe for us the situation over in the government held areas as people were so jubilant the other day thinking that relief supplies were on the way and now they've been delayed at least until Thursday, maybe beyond? What's the situation in the government held areas of the city?

RYU: I guess the only word you can say is desperate. There is so much hunger on the government-held side. All the aid agencies are warning that if the humanitarian goods are not sent in within the week or so you are going to see starvation (and) types of malnutrition, that kind of cases, popping up all over the city where the government is.

PESSIN: All right, thank you very much, Alisha. That's VOA's Alisha Ryu reporting from rebel-held territory at the port of Monrovia. And, I'm Al Pessin, VOA news in London.

NEB/AR/AWP/MEM