LIBERIA / WEAPONS CACHE

Liberia's national police say it uncovered a large cache of arms last week in the River Gee, an area along the border with Cote d'Ivoire. The region is an area where militias and mercenaries backed by deposed leader Laurent Gbabgo were reported to have fled after his arrest in April. UNMIL

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:14
• Production Date: 24 June 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN LIBERIA - UNMIL
• Subject Topical: CRIMES; CRIMINAL JUSTICE
• Geographic Subject: COTE D'IVOIRE; LIBERIA
• MAMS Id: U110624f

Description

STORY: LIBERIA / WEAPONS CACHE
TRT: 2.14
SOURCE: UNMIL
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 17 JUNE 2011, MONROVIA, LIBERIA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, Emergency Response Unit (ERU) officers with guns lined up on tarmac
2. Wide shot, UN helicopter approaching air field
3. Wide shot, UN Police officers observing activity
4. Wide shot, UN helicopter on the ground
5. Wide shot, ERU officers with guns form a security line
6. Tracking shot, group of Liberia National Police (LNP) carrying sealed crate from helicopter to cargo truck
7. Med shot, Police Inspector General (IGP), Marc Amblard speaking to press
8. Wide shot, large caliber machine gun loaded onto truck
9. Wide shot, rifles displayed on tarmac
10. Close up, butt of rifle with inscription
11. Med shot, Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) and semi-automatic weapons on tarmac
12. Wide shot, weapons on tarmac in foreground, LNP in background
13. Wide shot, weapons in foreground, LNP in background
14. Med shot, rifles lying on tarmac
15. Close up, 3 RPG’s displayed on tarmac
16. SOUND-BITE (English) Marc Amblard, Inspector General of Police:
“I would like to congratulate the young men and women in Maryland and River Gee, Grand Gedeh and Nimba, working very, very hard to keep our borders secure and I take my hat off and gave them all the credits.”
17. Med shot, DSRSG Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu (over soundbite)
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Rule of Law:
“We are very proud of LNP, for what it has been able to do discovering and retrieving these arms. We’ve always been conscious of the need to step up security at the borders, because of the possibility of a spillover of the conflict. We know that there are ethnic groups on both sides of the border who are related and so it presents a real potential for spillover. We have our fingers firmly on the case, we’ve stepped up patrols right along the border and we are confident that whatever happens we’ll be on top of things.”
19. Med shot, LNP officers carry large caliber machine gun to tarmac
20. Med shot, hands of officers laying down automatic weapons on tarmac
21. Med shot, various rifles and automatic guns lay out on tarmac
22. Close up, large caliber machine gun lying on tarmac
23. Close up, 2 RPG’s and 1 rifle displayed on tarmac
24. Wide shot, LNP off-loading large caliber gun from truck
25. Pan left, various rifles and other guns on tarmac

Storyline

Liberia’s national police say it uncovered a large cache of arms last week in the River Gee, an area along the border with Ivory Coast.

The region is an area where militias and mercenaries backed by deposed leader Laurent Gbabgo were reported to have fled after his arrest in April.

Assisted by the UN mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Liberia’s National Police (LNP) transported the cache of weapons to Monrovia.

At a press conference, Inspector–General of the LNP Marc Amblard said the LNP was persistent in following intelligence along with civilians and people that they worked with.

He said that through developing this intelligence the LNP was able to recover substantial amount of weapons that were operable.

Amblard further disclosed that the weapons would be fully identified with the serial numbers and documented and that ballistic tests would also be conducted to ascertain whether they were used in any previous criminal acts in the country.

He said that after that process the weapons would be turned-over to UNMIL to be destroyed.

UNMIL’s deputy-chief, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu expressed the missions commitment to stepping up security at the borders, “because of the possibility of a spillover of the conflict.”

The discovery of the weapons, which ranged from 1,400 AK-47 rounds, 67 AK-47 rifles, as well as 50-calibre machine guns, Rocket Propelled Greanades (RPG’s) and anti-aircraft steel rockets - comes on the heels of the UN observance of the Global Week of Gun Violence, the focus of which is to unite those around the world looking to reduce gun violence and the uncontrolled proliferation of small arms and light weapons.