Liberian soldiers were still holding a timber-company vessel at gunpoint in Monrovia's port, having docked at midnight on 19/20th. The 50 troops were fleeing the MODEL rebel advance and commandeered a cargo ship at Harper on the 18th. They brought 1,000-1,500 civilians on board (along with their goats, chickens, bedding and other household materials), then ordered the Croatian captain and his crew of six to carry them to the capital. One child was born on board, during the short voyage.

The "Benty" is flagged in the Caribbean Islands of Saint Vincent and Grenadines and owned by a Guinean company. According to Capitan Josip Alborghetti, the Liberian soldiers also managed to loot all the passengers and seriously damaged the ship. 

Harper is one of three main ports for the export of timber, the government's main source of foreign exchange earnings. The timber port of Greenville (200 km further west) fell to MODEL earlier this month and only Buchanan is still in government hands.

While President Charles Taylor's government has not confirmed the fall of Harper, all other evidence supports MODEL's claims. Retreating government troops looted the offices and warehouses of UNHCR, World Food Program and Danish Refugee Council in Harper. They took at least two vehicles, power generators, solar panels, radio communication equipment and 17 tons of food.

The Liberian conflict has displaced 1 million civilians within the country and sent 300,000 others fleeing to neighboring nations. The rebel offensive has sent over 10,000 fleeing into neighboring Ivory Coast on the 18th and 19th. A transient camp has been set up in the Ivorian border town of Tabou, about 80 km along the coast from Harper

The ship "MV Sandra" is on standby off Liberia to repatriate Guinean nationals, to complete rotations between the port of Takoradi in western Ghana and Conakry. Other refugees from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo and Nigeria would be repatriated by land. 

Meanwhile, the French are expanding their influence into the English-speaking nation. While President Taylor's links with French companies date back to the early 1990s, the French have smelled the change on the wind.

According to the leader of Liberia's principal opposition party, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the French foreign ministry has held official consultations with her for the first time since Charles Taylor became president of Liberia six years ago. Earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed to add timber exports to the arms, diamonds and travel sanctions already imposed against Taylor's regime two years ago. The French suddenly supported the timber ban. France (and China) had been a major purchaser of Liberian tropical wood and previously opposed the timber embargo. - Adam Geibel