A Coup Ruse to Eliminate Perceived Enemies

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

May 29, 2003

Charles Taylor

Sources in Monrovia say the city is replete with a rumors of what they called a "sinister plan" allegedly concocted by the Taylor regime. According to the sources, Mr. Taylor wants to stage a palace coup with the objective of eliminating some of his perceived enemies as well as using such a scheme for him not to go to Ghana. Details of the plan are not available, but as one of the sources intimated to The Perspective, the plan needs to be exposed.

Mr. Taylor has already indicated that he will only attend the formal ceremony, though he promised the international community that he was going to attend the Akosombo Peace Talks. The latest statement compounded by the rumors of coup in order to clampdown on perceived enemies are seen in many quarters as indications that Mr. Taylor is not committed to peace.

Meanwhile, the MODEL rebel group says it will not attend the Akosombo Talks. MODEL sources say the group received invitation to the peace talks just few days ago, giving it no time to prepare for the conference. MODEL sources also pointed to the failure of the organizers to serve them the agenda of the conference as one of the reasons that led to their decision not to attend the conference.

In another development, Taylor's Defense Minister Daniel Chea says Sam Bockarie was hired to overthrow the Liberian government. According to Mr. Chea, "His presence on Liberian soil was part of a larger plan by higher-ups in certain regional countries to bring reprisals against the people and government of Liberia for what they consider as Liberia's role in the Ivorian crisis."

Initially, The Liberian government claimed that Sam Bockarie was killed while resisting arrest. But it seems that Chief Prosecutor David Crane of the Sierra Leone Special Court is not buying the government stories. Speaking at a meeting hosted by Friends of Sierra Leone, Mr. Crane said, "Liberians did kill Sam Bockarie. Why do we know that? Because we have the ability to know that. They also killed his family a week later, so that shows you the mind set of someone who alleges that he is a legitimate head of state, and I think that that is a tragedy. But again, Sam Bockarie was not killed fighting resisting arrest. He was murdered."