Thousands of people in Liberia's coastal city of Greenville have fled the town in fear of rebel attacks, civilians in Monrovia have said, reports Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Many had reportedly fled into jungles after hearing that an unknown rebel group calling itself Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) had advanced to nearby Sinoe County.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been the targets of constant harassment, intimidation and forced conscription by armed government militias at IDP camps in the western suburbs of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, displaced persons have said.

According to reports, Grody Dorbor, editor of The Inquirer newspaper, Oscar Dolo, Nyahn Flomo and William Quiwea, all local correspondents for the radio station Talking Drum Studio-Liberia, disappeared about a fortnight ago in the country's eastern and central regions, where government forces are fighting rebels, according to the World Association of Newspapers, who have written a letter to Liberian President Charles Taylor about the issue.

About 1,000 Liberian women staged a peaceful assembly before the Monrovia municipal office last Friday to demand an immediate halt to hostilities between the Liberian government and rebels.

Government and rebel groups are responsible for serious human rights abuses against civilians in western Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberian combatants are fighting on both sides, Human Rights Watch has said in an open letter to the United Nations Security Council.

Armed groups on Wednesday attacked two camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) just outside the Liberian capital, Monrovia, according to information on Thursday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Humanitarian agencies have been allowed access to refugee and IDP camps close to the Liberian capital, Monrovia, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its weekly situation report of 1-7 April.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has called on the Liberian authorities to search for four journalists who have been missing for more than two weeks in the country's eastern and central regions, where government forces are battling rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD) movement. The missing journalists are Grody Dorbor, editor of "The Inquirer" newspaper, Oscar Dolo, Nyahn Flomo and William Quiwea, all local correspondents for the radio station Talking Drum Studio-Liberia.

A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva last Friday said the agency's operations for refugees from Cote d'Ivoire in Liberia were now severely hampered by an upsurge of recent fighting in eastern border regions.

A new Global Witness report exposes the Liberian government’s violent destabilisation of West Africa, through its support of mercenaries in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone and through its regular import of weapons in violation of UN sanctions. The report, titled, ‘The Usual Suspects: Liberia’s Weapons and Mercenaries in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone’, outlines the threat posed by Liberia to international peace and security.

Liberian Defense Minister Daniel Chea has announced that government forces have retaken the central provincial town of Gbarnga. Mr Chea said that between 13 and 15 government soldiers and more than 100 rebels were killed in the counter-attack which, according to him, has put the rebels on the run.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Michael Francis says the culture of corruption in society exists from the top to bottom - and that nobody cares enough to take corrective measures. He was speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop organized by the Liberia Watch for Human Rights at the YMCA in Monrovia.

Continuing displacement of people from central Liberia due to fighting between government and rebels could quickly overburden the scarce resources of humanitarian agencies, the UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in New York on Tuesday.

Clustered around radios, thousands of hungry Liberians in a refugee camp devour war news from Iraq, many hoping the world will turn its attention to their plight. A civil war in this West African nation with historic ties to the United States has killed thousands and uprooted nearly a third of the country's 3 million people with no end in sight.

Expressing profound concern at the continuing armed conflict in Liberia and its toll on the civilian population, the United Nations human rights chief has urged all parties to the conflict to commit themselves immediately to the protection of civilians. In a statement issued from Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Sergio Vieira de Mello, said he has continued to receive credible reports of serious abuses and violations of human rights and humanitarian law by both parties to the Liberian conflict.

General elections in Liberia will go ahead as scheduled on 14 October "even in the midst of war" between government soldiers and rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), President Charles Taylor said on Friday.

Escalating fighting between Liberian government forces and rebels has displaced at least 15,000 people from Gbarnga, 150 km north of the Liberia's capital, Monrovia, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Monday.

An exodus of civilians from the central Liberian town of Gbarnga, 150 km north of the capital, Monrovia, began on Sunday as clashes intensified in nearby Gbalatua between government forces and Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels.

Liberian women have called on the Government and the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to cease the hostilities in order for them to have a peace that would enable their children to go to school without any fear or intimidation to prepare themselves for the development of their country.

Thousands of West Africans who fled Cote d'Ivoire are stuck in Liberia and Guinea, unable to return to their home countries - Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Togo - Refugees International reported. "An estimated 43,000 people fled Cote d'Ivoire and entered Liberia and Guinea. Thousands more continue to arrive. In addition to 20,000 Ivorian refugees and 45,000 returnees, Liberia has received at least 12,000 nationals of third countries, with the majority from Burkina Faso," RI said on Thursday.