Liberia History & Information

RUF Supply Route Blocked, Liberia Airlifts Weapons

[Washington, DC, Oct. 13, 2000] In a telephone interview with Joe Wylie, defense spokesperson and senior military advisor of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), it was revealed that “since RUF’s supply route has been cut off and their weapons could not get back to Sierra Leone, the weapons had to be taken to Monrovia by Taylor for fear that we might capture those weapons and use them against his forces.”

Several attempts to get their side of the story were made to reach Liberia’s information and defense ministries but to no avail. Below is the interview with Joe Wylie (JW) by COPLA’s Bodioh Wisseh Siapoe (BWS).

BWS: Liberia accuses Guinea of a recent Zorzor attack. The Liberian government said in a statement that dissidents entered Bokesa with the support of Guinean tanks and artillery and later hit Yeala and Zorzor towns. Who did enter those towns — dissidents fighting the Guinea government or LURD?

JW: The forces that entered Zorzor from John’s Town and Voinjama were LURD forces. We are still holding Voinjama and its surroundings. The heavy artillery we captured from retreating Taylor forces was positively used to pacify Zorzor before our forces overran the town to capture Zorzor.

The Guineans have not supported us in the past; they are not supporting us now. LURD, as I said earlier, is a homegrown guerrilla movement that is well versed and familiar with the terrain in which the battle for Lofa County and its surroundings is being fought. We have had the capacity all along to capture Zorzor, but we did not want too much civilian casualties.

That is why we delayed the attack on Zorzor to allow civilians to leave the town. LURD forces are battling Mr. Taylor’s loyalists who are very few in number now and are mainly composed of various groups of mercenaries and regular Burkinabe troops.

BWS: The Liberian defense ministry also said that after its successes against LURD, Guinean dissidents fighting the Guinean government have cut off your supply routes. BBC correspondent Jonathan Paylaleh reported that the Taylor regime has airlifted tons of British-made weapons captured from retreating dissidents fighting government forces in Lofa County. Many people are confused about the reports. What can you contribute to this debate?

JW: What we know to be the fact is that we do not have a supply route. We are a homegrown guerrilla force. We get our weapons and other logistical support from the Taylor forces themselves. The British weapons that Taylor claimed to have airlifted were never captured from us. They were weapons brought to Liberia by RUF forces and stored there to take back to Sierra Leone to fight.

Since we cut off the supply route of the RUF and the weapons could not get back to Sierra Leone, the weapons had to be taken to Monrovia by Taylor for fear that we might capture those weapons and use them against his forces. LURD has experienced men and women under arms that know the inside out of the forests in Liberia. It will take Charles Taylor and his loyalists 100 years to get us out of Liberia. It is impossible to get us out of Liberia. The British or any other power does not support us. Our own forces, headed by General Charles Dent, support us.

BWS: This week the United States has hardened its position toward Liberia because of continued allegations about President Taylor’s diamond warfare and support of RUF rebels. On Wednesday the U.S. State Department imposed a visa ban on Taylor and other Liberian officials, their families and close supporters. How would that affect the liberation struggle?

JW: This action of the United States and other countries of the civilized world is fully welcome by the LURD; it is long overdue. Since Foday Sankoh went to jail, Taylor has assumed the RUF leadership. Most subregional leaders have committed the mistake of treating the RUF and the NPFL as separate entities. But they have realized that it is Taylor who gives orders to the RUF to attack anywhere in Sierra Leone and in Liberia. Our forces in Lofa County and beyond want to warn the RUF that anytime LURD forces are attacked by the RUF on the instructions of Mr. Taylor, we will ensure to bring that spot from where we are attack within our defenses and we will not hesitate to pursue the RUF into Sierra Leone.

BWS: The Liberian government allegedly runs the country from Gbarnga where President Taylor has retreated. Reliable sources in Monrovia say that a massive exodus of Liberians is headed for neighboring countries. Is LURD still committed not to harassing civilians? If so how is that commitment being communicated from the frontlines?

JW: We have special safeguards in place to prevent our men and women from molesting or harassing innocent men, women and children in our controlled territory and beyond.

As a matter of fact, the LURD high command has recently issued orders to execute one of our own soldiers who was caught looting let alone molesting civilians. So our men and women are very careful because our success or failure depends on protecting the innocent. We respect the fundamental rights of Liberians that we are trying to liberate from Mr. Taylor.

We are guarded by this knowledge. We cannot afford to come to liberate our people and behave worse than those people we are fighting. The NPFL and Taylor’s army are already on record for carrying out the genocide and rape of more than 200,000 of our citizens. Taylor and his fighters have left behind a legacy of mayhem, rape and unnecessary loss of lives and properties. It is this legacy that we are trying to erase from our political culture.

BWS: What’s the general update at the frontlines?

JW: Presently, we have almost the entire Lofa County under our control. Our men have penetrated deep into Liberia. We have alerted out forces in other parts of Liberia to watch out because Mr. Taylor and his main lieutenants will be running away. While they are running, they will be looting and pillaging the resources of Liberia. We have also captured a huge quantity of arms and ammunition and communication devices from the Taylor forces. It is because of this capture that Taylor does not sleep in Monrovia, as he should be.

If Taylor were to leave the Mansion or resign today, we would be ready and willing to sit down with other well-meaning Liberians, subregional leaders and reputable international organizations to find a viable and durable solution that would bring about lasting peace in our country and the subregion.