Four dead in Liberia on eve of disputed election

Liberian riot police shot dead up to four protestors during a rally in Monrovia, opposition leaders said yesterday on the eve of a run-off vote they accuse President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of rigging.

Shooting erupted after anti-riot police and UN peacekeepers using water cannons tried to block an unauthorised march by thousands of demonstrators supporting the opposition challenger Winston Tubman.

Mr Tubman’s call to boycott the second of the west African country’s second post-war polls today drew wide international condemnation and raised fears that Liberia was being dragged back to the dark days of civil war.

“Three or four were killed and many injured. They (police) came and started shooting at unarmed people who just wanted peace,” said Mr Tubman’s running mate, former football star George Weah.

AFP journalists saw two bodies, including that of a man aged around 20 with a gunshot wound to the head at the Congress for Democratic Change headquarters.

One policeman at the scene said a protestor fired the first shot but an eye witness blamed the security forces for the flare-up and the man’s death.

“He was standing in front of the building when a policeman shot and I saw him going down,” said witness Anita Mulba.

George Weah, who lost to Mr Sirleaf in 2005, was defiant and told journalists: “We are going to continue the march because we are not more important than those who have been killed.”

Sirens wailed throughout the city, as police attempted to disperse the protesters by firing tear gas.