Rebels Block U.N. Peacekeepers’ Access in Liberia

Liberia’s biggest rebel faction stopped U.N. peacekeeping troops from deploying Thursday into guerrilla territory outside the capital, dealing another setback to the nation’s disarmament process.

More than 7,000 United Nations soldiers are deployed in Liberia as part of a peace deal meant to end nearly 14 years of civil war, but attempts to wrest guns from the fighters have been difficult.

Angry members of the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy said they had not been informed of the advance into their zone by U.N. troops. They pledged to block further attempts.

The rebels stopped a dozen U.N. trucks and armored personnel carriers from heading across the Po River bridge, 13 miles from Monrovia.

With former Liberian President Charles Taylor now in exile in Nigeria, disarming about 40,000 fighters is seen as key to cementing peace.

The rebel blockade is part of a dispute over who should get positions in an interim government meant to shepherd the country to elections in 2005.

The rebels “said until they get those jobs, the assistant ministerial positions, they are not prepared for deployment in their areas,” the U.N.’s top soldier in Liberia, Lt. Gen. Daniel Opande of Kenya, told reporters Thursday.

The U.N. said more than 11,000 fighters had given up their weapons, including 8,555 guns, since the disarmament process began this month.