Amnesty International is calling on the Liberian government to immediately release Aloysius Toe, a leading human rights activist who was arrested on 4 November 2002 and charged with treason. "Aloysius Toe has done nothing but work legitimately for the defence of fundamental human rights in Liberia," Amnesty International said. "There is no basis to the charge against him and he must be immediately and unconditionally released."

IFESH is initiating a new project in Liberia, beginning in January 2003. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Liberia Integrated Civil Society Development Initiative is to assist in the country's transition from a state of conflict to one of rehabilitation and development by helping local communities become more actively engaged in the country's social, economic and political development.

Fighting between Liberian rebels and pro-government forces resumed at the weekend in northern Liberia, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. The fighting occurred when the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group, which has been fighting to topple President Charles Taylor since 1998, staged an attack in Lofa County a week after the government announced that it was fully in control of the area, the sources told IRIN from the capital, Monrovia.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has deplored the recent recommendation by a five-member military tribunal that editor Hassan Bility, who has been detained since June 24, be treated as a "prisoner of war."

Liberia smuggled more than 200 tons of military equipment into the country in violation of U.N. sanctions, according to a U.N. report that calls for an arms embargo to be expanded. The report details "a sophisticated trail of double documentation" designed to show that the weapons and ammunition were shipped to Nigeria — not to Liberia which has been under an embargo.

The Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Marc Destannes de Bernis, says preservation of the environment should not be seen as contradictory to economic growth and social development.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has dispatched an assessment team to Liberia to review the situation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), the IOM reported on Friday.

The non-governmental organization Action by Churches Together (ACT) appealed on Thursday for US $1.6 million to provide emergency relief to at least 30,000 Liberians internally displaced persons, the organization reported.

Liberia's police chief Paul Mulbah on Wednesday led riot police in whipping school pupils to break up a peaceful protest in Monrovia, journalists at the scene reported.

The health situation facing internally displaced Liberians has deteriorated recently and mortality rates have risen above the emergency threshold, a new assessment reported on Tuesday.

Two incidents have occurred involving the Guinean army and armed assailants in Nzerekore, near the border with Liberia, amid reports that the situation at the border is getting increasingly tense.

Due to the UN Security Council’s inaction on Liberia, the Liberian timber industry remains a primary source of funding for Liberia’s war machine. Many logging companies continue to be actively engaged in illegal arms imports for the government, committing human rights abuses and destabilising Liberia and the entire West Africa sub-region. A new Global Witness report, titled Logging Off: How the Liberian Timber industry fuels Liberia’s humanitarian disaster and threatens Sierra Leone, exposes the direct links between Liberia’s timber industry and the conflict.

There are indications that Journalist Hassan Bility and others being held for their alleged collaboration with dissident activities could be released as part of government proposals for a political settlement to the long running Liberian crisis.

Large numbers of children are at risk of malnutrition and disease due to lack of access to food, water, sanitation and health services in Liberia, according to a September emergency update by Save the Children Fund (SCF-UK).

Liberian President Charles Taylor on Monday reiterated his opposition to calls for an international peacekeeping force to end the violent conflict in his country. "There will be no intervention force in Liberia as long as I am president," news agencies quoted him as saying. "Anybody who sets foot on Liberian soil without the consent of this government must be prepared to fight."

The United Nations' World Food Programme expressed "major concern" last Friday over lack of access to people trapped in areas of conflict or close to military front lines in Liberia. WFP noted that thousands of people had abandoned the town of Tubmanburg and now it had a population of 5,000 to 6,000, compared to between 20,000 and 30,000 before the war.

Liberian President Charles Taylor has lifted the state of emergency imposed eight months ago after rebels began threatening the capital, Monrovia. Speaking after the recapture of the north-western town of Bopolu on Friday, Mr Taylor said he had taken the decision because of the reduced danger from rebels.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has undertaken a major registration exercise for all Liberian refugees in three camps in southeastern Guinea, UNHCR Media Relations Officer Delphine Marie said on Friday.

At least four out of over 600 diarrhoea patients reported in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, since July were suffering from cholera, according to government health officers.

Miatta Sheriff and Maima Kromah are six-year old Liberian children. They have lived for several months in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and have no idea where their parents are. Sheriff and Kromah are among thousands of Liberian children separated from their parents by fighting between government troops and rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) since 1998.