Several Mercenaries Arrested

New Democrat (Monrovia)

23 May 2011

Twelve out of the 150 surviving Liberian mercenaries who allegedly fought along side forces loyal to former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo are now in police custody here, police disclosed Sunday.

Some of men were paraded at National Police Headquarters Sunday, and police said they confessed that they dropped 13 AK-47 weapons and threw them in a river in Ivory Coast.

Police said they confiscated only one pistol from the retreating mercenaries who are now undergoing investigation.

Ivory Coast announced recently that it was seeking international assistance to reinforce its border with Liberia as means of halting the return and flow of mercenaries, according to AFP.

The move follows reports that Liberian mercenaries allegedly fighting with pro-Gbagbo forces had killed several civilians and looted their properties as they retreated. Other reports say the mercenaries fought along side both Alassanne Ouattara and Gbagbo forces.

Security officials told this paper that several mercenaries have been arrested, and that the search for their hidden weapons is on.

Police said infiltrated weapons from Ivory Coast have led to a rise in armed robberies, particularly in border areas like Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County.

The reports said Ivory Coast plans to reinforce security along the border with neighboring Liberia to prevent the return of Liberian mercenaries to its territory, the government said.

Prime Minister Guillaume Soro invites the international community to help secure the border, according to an e-mailed statement yesterday from government spokesman Patrick Achi in Abidjan.

At least 220 civilians were killed in western Ivory Coast by militias and Liberian mercenaries who had backed former President Laurent Gbagbo as they retreated to Liberia, according to the statement.

The mercenaries fled the country after forces loyal to President Ouattara captured Gbagbo following a civil war. The Ivorian Defense Ministry on May 10 put the number of dead at 174. The government also urged almost 160,000 Ivorian refugees in Liberia to return home, according to the statement.

A Liberian rebel training camp in Cote d’Ivoire has been discovered with the arrest of several persons, police disclosed Sunday.

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