The return of thousands of Liberians from camps across West Africa is fuelling ethnic tension over the ownership of land and homes in northern Nimba county, which saw some of the worst fighting in the civil war. Hundreds of machete-armed youths from the Mano and Gio ethnic groups took to the streets of Nimba's second largest commercial city Ganta last week after rumours circulated that ethnic Mandingos, who have been living in refugee camps in Guinea, were about to attack the city to reclaim their land.

United Nations sanctions on exports of timber and diamonds from Liberia should be lifted if the West African country's economy is to recover from years of war, one of the region's top diplomats said on Monday (15 May). The trade prohibitions were imposed on Liberia during the final years of its civil war, a diamond-fuelled conflict which killed a quarter of a million people, devastated its once vibrant economy and left its infrastructure in ruins.

Why the current pressure from the international community by urging Sirleaf to bring Taylor to Sierra Leone to face trial? Do they know its implications on the people of Liberia and the Sub region?

The ECOWAS need to understand that in the 1997 general elections, Taylor had 75 percent of the total vote cast and this clearly shows that he has a lot of followers, which includes ex-combatants.

Some have argued that putting Taylor on trial would be the way to deter others. Indeed, if it is about deterrence we would not have witnessed the current coup in the Gambia.

The political, economic and socio-cultural conditions of Liberia have deteriorated for far too long and the leaders of Africa could do well if they supported Liberia rather than leaning on the international community to refurbish the country. For example, Nigeria can provide Liberia with oil on credit.

The government of Liberia and the UN peacekeeping mission on Tuesday promised to conduct investigations into a report by British-based charity Save the Children that government workers, peacekeepers and aid workers are giving Liberian girls money, food and favours in return for sex. And ordinary Liberians told IRIN that growing poverty appeared to be fuelling promiscuous sexual behaviour. In its report released this week, Save the Children said officials at camps for displaced Liberians, peacekeepers, government employees and teachers were among those abusing their positions of authority to have sex with girls as young as eight.

Liberian President Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says the governement urgently needs to set standards and penalties to deal with people who are found to be engaged in corruption in the country. President Sirleaf said those who violated the trust of the public while in public service, must be subjected to what she called, "certain sanctions," such as prosecution.

Liberia, emerging from the shadow of 14 years of civil war, now must do the best job it can to promote education for its children, The Analyst argues in this editorial. "Liberia was already behind almost all of the nascent African nations in terms of developing her human potentials before she was plunged into warfare," the paper writes. "We therefore need no reminding that we cannot afford to slack off on education."

IRIN News examined the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Liberia, which is emerging from 14 years of civil war. "HIV/AIDS is now a serious problem in Liberia," President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said recently, adding that HIV prevalence is 12% in the general population and higher among women and children. According to UNAIDS, 5.9% of Liberians were HIV-positive at the end of 2003, just after the end of the war.

Reporters Without Borders has called on the new head of the Liberia National Police, Beatrice Munah Sieh, to take energetic measures to ensure respect for the work of the press after two reporters were beaten by police officers while covering the eviction of street vendors in Monrovia on 20 April.

The United Nations said it has successfully completed a program to resettle more than 300,000 Liberians who were displaced during that country's 14-year civil war. "We consider it a success," said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which plans to continue assisting and protecting refugees returning to the West African country from abroad.

Liberia's newly-elected but cash-strapped government has begun to find ways that the U.N. sanctions can be lifted to allow the country to exploit its immense timber resources for the benefit of its war-ravaged people. The move follows the passing of Executive Order Number One, canceling all logging concessions effective from Feb. 2, in compliance with conditions set under the U.N.'s Security Council Resolution 1521 (passed in 2003) for the lifting of sanctions on timber exports.

At the end of two months in office, Liberia’s peacetime government has released a five-month development agenda to get the country’s post-war reconstruction rolling. The agenda entitled “First 150 Days Action Plan: A working document for a new Liberia” commits President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government to a host of goals from economic reforms to humanitarian initiatives before the end of June.

The Minister of Education, Joseph Korto said the government of Liberia is working out modality to secure scholarship for female students in the country. Korto said the government will use the scholarship program to encourage girls and their parents to engage the “universal learning process.”

"There are no reliable statistics or information on the return of stolen funds to Liberia since the collapse of the Doe regime or the Taylor regime. This issue had not been given prominence by previous caretaker governments because they felt that they did not have the authority to take on such an issue. However the Sirleaf government is an elected one and possesses the authority to press for the return of stolen funds to Liberia. This is part of the process of fighting the culture of impunity that had existed in Liberia."

The party of Liberian football star George Weah has complained of a "witch-hunt" after his diplomatic passport was seized at the airport. Mr Weah was "bundled off" a plane by security agents, said the party's Secretary General Eugene Nagbe. Mr Weah came second in last year's polls but says he was cheated out of victory. Observers rejected his claims. The government says it is investigating the incident and denies issuing an order to seize Mr Weah's passport.

Reform of the justice system needs to be a top priority for Liberia’s new government and donors alike, says the International Crisis Group. "After fourteen years of civil war, the system is in shambles. Impunity prevails, and in this atmosphere, the government cannot adequately address economic governance, transformation of the military and reconstruction of war-scarred physical infrastructure – all primary areas for reform and reconstitution in 2006. Courts that do not prosecute those who siphon resources from government coffers impede progress in all other areas."

If the war crimes trial of Liberia's ex-president Charles Taylor is moved from Sierra Leone to The Hague, the international community must shoulder the increased financial costs and address the likely negative impacts for Taylor's victims, the Open Society Justice Initiative has warned. The warning comes as the UN Security Council is widely expected to consider a resolution to relocate the trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone from Freetown to The Hague because of concerns over the potential impact of the trial on security and peace in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
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Charles Taylor on Trial

Hundreds of Liberian refugees living in Freetown and parts adjacent say they are living in fear since the arrest and detention of former Liberian President Charles Taylor in Freetown, Sierra Leone. According to them, there are rumors in Freetown that when Taylor was arrested at the Robert International Airport (RIA) by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), some Liberian youths loyal to Taylor attacked Sierra Leoneans living in Monrovia.

Liberia, West Africa, which was founded by freed slaves from America in the 1820s, is suffering from serious poverty and unemployment. This is because a Liberian Civil War, that ended in 2003, destroyed the infrastructure and economy. In this country where people do not even have peace, a Japanese company and its American subsidiary are committing labor abuses including forced labor.

The Forestry, Logging and Allied Workers' Union of Liberia (FLAWUL) has expressed its deep distaste with members of the National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA) over what they called "a mortgaging of the future of the country." FLAWUL, in a release issued recently said: "The NTLA's passage of the bill of a Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) between the Liberian government and Mittal Steel was intended to benefit few officials at the detriment of the Liberian people."

This document considers the categories and questions for consideration when planning education within post-conflict Liberia. The authors argue that little work has been done to determine how to successfully create or recreate education systems in situations of transition from conflict to post-conflict. The authors consider how education needs to be developed from square one in Liberia. The destruction of infrastructure, including school buildings, teacher training colleges, latrines and roads poses a significant hurdle for the future of education in the country.