Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


    November 07, 2011

Deadly Violence On Eve of Liberian Run-Off

   Scott Stearns | Monrovia
   Liberian police advance past burning barricade as they chase opposition
   party supporters in Monrovia, Nov. 7, 2011.
   Photo: AP
   Liberian police advance past burning barricade as they chase opposition
   party supporters in Monrovia, Nov. 7, 2011.

   At least one person is dead in Liberia after fighting between riot
   police and supporters of a candidate who is boycotting Tuesday's
   run-off election against incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
   Liberian riot police stormed the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC)
   party headquarters, firing tear gas in running battles with
   stone-throwing supporters of former justice minister Winston Tubman,
   CDC's presidential candidate.
   Tubman has called for a boycott of Tuesday's run-off because of what he
   describes as electoral fraud in last month's first-round election.
   Tubman supporter Omar Keita was at party headquarters when the violence
   began.
   "Our standard-bearer called us to the party headquarters, to come and
   assemble and have a peaceful demonstration right in the compound
   without getting out there to create a problem for anybody," he said,
   explaining that this is when they were attacked by Liberia's Emergency
   Response Unit, or E.R.U.
   "We were in the compound and we only saw the E.R.U. running on us
   firing, firing, firing, firing," he said.
   Tubman supporters regrouped at the entrance of the CDC compound when
   riot police charged them again with more tear gas. They retaliated by
   throwing more stones.
   U.N. peacekeepers stepped in to separate the sides, pushing back riot
   police and taking up defensive positions against Liberian forces that
   assembled at a neighboring petrol station, where dozens of handcuffed
   civilians sat on the ground.
   The mostly Nigerian and Malawian U.N. peacekeepers prevented riot
   police from re-entering the CDC compound for a third time. They
   successfully defused the situation, maintaining calm in the face of
   shouting civilians and pushing riot police as a U.N. helicopter circled
   overhead.
   President Sirleaf said the CDC boycott violates the constitution
   because it deprives Liberians of their right to vote. But Tubman said
   Liberians have the right not to vote as an expression of displeasure
   with the government.
   Tubman said he wants the vote postponed so officials can properly
   examine his party's claim of tampered ballot boxes and doctored tally
   sheets. Observers from the Carter Center and the Economic Community of
   West African States say the first-round vote was largely free and fair.
   The electoral commission says polls will open as scheduled on Tuesday.
   In a statement printed in local newspapers, electoral commission
   officials urged voters to cast their ballots without "violence or
   confrontation" and called the upcoming vote a "crucial decider" of how
   Liberia continues to move toward peace, democracy and progress after 14
   years of civil war.

.