Liberia asks UN to act in Guinea border conflict

MONROVIA, Liberia (Reuters) -- Liberian Information Minister Joe Mulbah called on Monday for the United Nations to act to stem a growing conflict with neighbouring Guinea after a series of cross-border raids.

Liberia said on Sunday Guinean forces had on Friday shelled the border district of Zorzor, 250 km (155 miles) northeast of the capital Monrovia, wounding several civilians in what it called "an act of provocation tantamount to a full-scale war between Guinea and Liberia."

A Guinean official declined to confirm the reports, but said Guinean forces had acted only to defend national territory.

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Mulbah said Liberia would protest to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations over the incident.

"This is the time for the U.N. to act," Mulbah told Reuters. "Guinea should stop...shelling our land. This is not good for the region and it is not good for both countries."

Relations between the two West African countries have soured since a series of cross-border raids on Guinean border villages earlier this month.

In the Guinean capital Conakry, Djibril Moriba, cabinet director for Foreign Minister Mahawa Bangoura, declined to confirm whether Guinean forces had fired shells across the border into Liberia.

"All our forces are doing is defending our territorial integrity -- after all, these attacks are coming from somewhere into our territory, which we are duty-bound to defend," Moriba said.

Asked if cross-border shelling could be interpreted as an act of war, Moriba said: "We are not at war with either Liberia or Sierra Leone. But at the same time we cannot lie back and fold our arms and see our land being (attacked) and our citizens being killed in cold blood."

Guinea has said Liberians and Sierra Leoneans were involved in the raids, in which scores of people are reported to have been killed.

Liberia in turn has accused Guinea of harbouring dissidents who have been fighting troops in northern Liberia since July.

It has also pledged to repatriate its nationals from Guinea following reports of attacks against Liberians and Sierra Leoneans there, accusing the government of involvement.

"The government further recalls the recent killings, raping and arrests of several Liberians on the direct order of (Guinea's) President Lansana Conte," the Liberian government said in a statement on Sunday.

There was no independent confirmation of the accusations.

The Liberian statement added that Liberia had filed a formal protest to regional body ECOWAS, which groups 16 West African countries and has made several attempts to defuse tension between the two countries.

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