Alleged military buildup in southern Guinea

Disturbing news from one of the more unstable regions of West Africa. There appears to be a big military buildup on the Guinean side of the Guineo-Liberian border, according to Monrovia's Liberian Observer.

According to immigration officers at the Liberian side of the porous border of the Guinea forest region, the military build-up is due to the unfolding political and economic developments in Guinea in recent weeks. Many cross border traders told our reporter off the record that business people in Guinea have been withholding goods in order to incite the population against the regime in Conakry. But this state of affairs has yet to be confirmed.

Yet, Counter-intelligence officers in Voinjama [in northern Liberia] also hinted to the Daily Observer that the huge military build-up at the Liberia/Guinea border is a precautionary measure to safeguard the porous border.

However, the Guinean side of that border, near Macenta, is particularly unstable and lacking in security. During Charles Taylor's dictatorship, the presence of Liberian rebel training camps in that part of Guinea was an open secret. So a military buildup in that part of Guinea is particularly disturbing, especially considering Liberia's fragile attempts to return to normalcy.