Liberia: UN Hopes Disarmament Campaign Will Light a fire under peace process

The United Nations was due to torch a ceremonial pyre of surrendered weapons to light a fire under the peace process in war-torn Liberia, but 14 years of bloodshed may not be reduced to ashes so easily. With the 50 million-dollar (42 million-euro) disarmament program the UN Mission to Liberia (UNMIL) hopes not only to convince an estimated 50,000 combatants to relinquish their weapons but also to reintegrate them in a civilian society battered by two back-to-back civil wars since 1989.