The Black Vault - Liberia President to Meet Main Backer of Rebels

MONROVIA (Reuters) - Liberia's caretaker President Moses Blah meets the main backer of his country's biggest rebel group on Friday when he visits Guinea as part of a regional tour designed to draw the line under 14 years of bloodshed.

Blah was due to meet Guinea's President Lansana Conte, named in a United Nations report as the biggest supporter of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), the larger of two rebel factions holding at least three-quarters of Liberia.

LURD fighters have taken shelter in Guinean barracks, where they were provided with ammunition and weapons, and Conte's troops have shelled Liberia in the past.

There was no official word on whether Blah, who hands power to a successor in October, would raise the issue of Guinea's support for the rebels during the talks.

Many regional analysts say a definitive solution to Liberia's cyclical violence can only come with the goodwill of the conflict's godfathers. Peace in Liberia is in turn seen as key to ending decades of brutal intermeshed wars in West Africa.

Liberia's bloodshed started with a civil war triggered by former President Charles Taylor in 1989 and has spread chaos throughout the region, spilling into Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Guinea.

Liberia has accused Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo of backing a second rebel faction, known as Model, and Sierra Leone of sending supplies to LURD.

Taylor, now exiled in regional powerhouse Nigeria, also meddled in wars in neighboring countries.

FRESH HOPE

Blah paid a lightning visit to Ivory Coast on Thursday and then spent the night in Nigeria.

In Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan, Blah said: "We have come to say that whatsoever has happened, let us put it behind us now."

Liberia has been given fresh hope since Taylor handed power to Blah last week. Two rebel factions and the government signed a peace deal in Ghana this week.

Blah is due to hand over in October to Gyude Bryant, a low profile businessman viewed as a neutral consensus builder.

Aid agencies have begun the laborious task of rebuilding a country founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century.

Although the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees in the capital Monrovia has improved, towns and villages outside the city are still cut off and the scale of the damage is becoming apparent only slowly.

A World Food Program (WFP) plane arrived at Monrovia's airport on Friday bringing eight aid trucks donated by Sweden. WFP spokesman Ramin Rafirasme said WFP would bring in 2,300 tons of food next week.

Aid agencies began to function again after West African peacekeepers, backed by U.S. Marines, secured Monrovia after weeks of fighting in which around 2,000 civilians were killed.

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