Liberia & Guinea Were ‘Inches Away from War’ in Buildup to Arrest, Extradition of Alleged Coup Plotter

MONROVIA, Liberia – Within the circle of the Liberian presidency, many are still baffled: How did a small private jet gain landing rights to the Roberts International Airport shortly after midnight on Sunday, November 3, 2024, in pursuit of a Guinean national accused of trying to recruit former Lurd rebels in a bid to topple the government of junta leader, Mamady Doumbouya and his National Committee of Reconciliation and Development (CNRD)?

Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com

That such an operation was undertaken under a cloud of darkness and outside existing Mano River Union and ECOWAS channels has tensions simmering between Liberia and its next-door neighbor, Guinea. More importantly, the issue appears to be resurrecting echoes of Liberia’s recent past. The disappearance of a prisoner held without a court order is alarming, recalling the mysterious killings of auditors in the past Coalition for Democratic Change government of George Weah. Weah’s successors, the Unity Party (UP), ran for office, promising change, and good governance. Now, nearly a year later, the UP finds itself mired in a controversy involving the turning over of an accused to a military junta when critics say there are established sub-regional, and international processes for resolving international grievances.

“Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Extradition shall not be granted if the person whose extradition is requested has been, or would be, subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the requesting State or if that person has not received, or would not receive the minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings, as contained in Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.”

Article V of the ECOWAS convention:

Under Article IV of the ECOWAS convention: “Extradition shall not be granted if the offence in respect of which is requested is regarded as a political offence or as an offence connected with a political offence.” Secondly, according to the convention, “the same rule shall apply if there are substantial grounds for believing that a request for extradition for an ordinary criminal offence has been made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing a person on account of race, tribe, religion, nationality, political opinion, sex, or status.” Thirdly, according to the ECOWAS convention, “Implementation of this Article shall not affect any prior or future obligations assumed by States under the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 and its additional Protocols and other multilateral International Conventions.” Article 5 states: “Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Extradition shall not be granted if the person whose extradition is requested has been, or would be, subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the requesting State or if that person has not received, or would not receive the minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings, as contained in Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.”

As sensitive and complicated as the matter appears to be for the government, it is the handling of the matter that has many in diplomatic circles wondering whether it could have been handled differently.

With echoes of history lingering in the backdrop of the controversial extradition of a Guinean national from Liberia, it remains to be seen whether the decision by Liberia, was simply done in panic, to  satisfy the paranoia and fears of a military dictatorship out to get its enemies – and how much of a threat former President Condé is to the Doumbouya military junta. More importantly, what implications the extradition of Cherif could have on future Liberia-Guinea relations. For many political observers, the most important outcome lies on what the Guinea military junta does with the suspected coup plotter in its custody and what it could mean for long-term regional stability and peace.

In Liberia’s recent past, efforts to extradite political prisoners suspected of similar acts did not go so well. For example, during the Administration of late President William V.S. Tubman, a Liberian called Booker T. Bracewell was accused of being a socialist and opposed to Tubman. He escaped Liberia for Guinea. Tubman asked President Sekou Toure to send him back. Bracewell was sent back, arrested by the Liberian government, sent to Belle Yalla, and killed. He was the brother of Dean Danlette Bracewell, who was at the University of Liberia in the early 80s, and Poman Bracewell, who was the legal counsel for Firestone in the 70s.

Similarly, several Liberians fled into Ivory after the November 12, 1985, Thomas Quiwonkpa invasion. Among them was Prince Johnson, who would later become head of the breakaway faction of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front rebel movement. The politician Samuel Dokie, and many Liberians like Tonie King, Tolbert’s son-in-law, were also in Ivory Coast. The Ivorian government at the time, refused to arrest and send them to Liberia after Liberian President Samuel Doe complained and wanted them back. At the time, Doe accused former Vice President Bennie Warner of trying to bring troops to invade Liberia from Ivory Coast. Dokie, King and others were not extradited although Liberia had a treaty with Ivory Coast.

So, the historical implications of six-armed commandos descending from a private jet from the Guinean junta, dressed in full military attire, had all the markings of a potential political unraveling.  

The commandos, according to two senior Liberian security officials who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, were led by Ibrahima Sory Bangoura, the second in command of the NCRD, the group which in 2010, ended the reign of former Guinean President Alpha Condé.

Condé was toppled in September 2021, when the junta, under the command of Doumbouya, staged a coup d’etat and announced the overthrow of Guinea’s first democratically elected leader. At the time, Condé’s victory was seen as putting an end to decades of authoritarian rule by the country’s two first presidents, Sekou Toure and Lansana Conte, who ruled Guinea for 26 and 24 years, respectively.

Ironically, Bangoura, the head of the commandos storming Liberia, had only taken over the position in June, following the death of Sidiba Koulibaly, the former right-hand man to Doumbouya.

Liberia & Guinea: Mirror Has Two Faces

If the recent history of coup d’etats in the subregion is anything to go by, the similarities are striking.

Shortly after toppling the government of William R. Tolbert on April 12, 1980, Master Sargeant Samuel Kanyon Doe and his seventeen low-ranked officers who toppled Tolbert, soon began to fall apart – and one after the other, Doe’s coup conspirators – Thomas Weh Syen and Nicholas Podier – soon found themselves the subjects of Doe’s wrath amid accusations that they were trying to overthrow him and take control of the People’s Redemption Council which had ended decades of Americo-Liberian rule in Africa’s oldest republic.

Some western diplomats now fear that Doumbouya’s paranoia that enemies like Condé – whom he removed from power – are out to get him, is threatening the stability of the subregion. Liberia and its neighbors may be at the mercy of the only military junta remaining in the Mano River Union.

In a scene reminiscent of the Doe era in Liberia, Doumbouya’s former right-hand man, Koulibaly died mysteriously in detention, just days after being sentenced by a military court. His lawyers immediately branded his death as suspicious. Koulibaly was sentenced by a military court to five years on June 14 for desertion and weapon offences in a trial his supporters denounced as trumped-up. He was second-in-command to Doumbouya during the 2021 coup that brought them to power. Prosecutors at a military tribunal said in a statement that Koulibaly died on June 24 while in custody. Although an autopsy ordered by the prosecutors found his death “could be attributable to severe psychological trauma and prolonged stress” causing a heart attack, Koulibaly’s lawyer, Mory Doumbouya was quoted by AFP as saying that the death was due to “anything but natural causes.”

The backdrop of the 2021 coup in Guinea lay the basis for the sense of uncertainty now triggering tension between Liberia and Guinea. The two countries share a strategic border in the sub region which has in the recent past endured civil wars, multiple coups, and lingering uneasiness. Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, all sharing borders, have each taken turns at dealing with turmoil.

The arrival of the six Guinean commandos, fully armed, on Liberian soil, signaled a boiling point. The relationship between Liberia and Guinea is on the ropes – engulfed in distrust.

When the commandos landed, according to one Liberian security official, the Liberian military guards were immediately overwhelmed.

“We had a situation in which we were inches away from war. The Guinean commandos landed at the airport and our AFL took position, as you know they (AFL) have their own limitations with lethal weapons and stuff like that – so, everybody panicked. It was late, the President was asleep and most of the top security officials were not in the loop as to what was unfolding.

What was unfolding was clear.  

The Guineans were in Liberia for one purpose. They wanted Abraham Khalil Cherif, a Guinean national the Doumbouya Junta government believes was on a mission to recruit former rebels of Lurd.

Cherif was arrested just days prior to the commandos’ arrival in Liberia. His arrest was already causing anger, with some Muslim groups saying that they could not understand why he was arrested. Many began to fear that Cherif had been picked up by security and turned over to the Guinean commandos and killed.

Cllr. Kabineh J’aneh, a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, also a former member of Lurd, went a step further and accused the Unity Party government of “kidnapping” Cherif, his client. Cllr. J’aneh alleges that Cherif’s current whereabouts are unknown. According to Ja’neh, there is suspicion that Cherif may have been handed over to Guinean authorities without due legal process. The arrest raised diplomatic tensions between Liberia and Guinea, with Guinea accusing Liberia of harboring individuals intent on destabilizing its leadership.

In multiple interviews, top-level security and government officials explain to  FrontPageAfrica how authorities at the Roberts International Airport took their eyes off the ball as six armed commandos – acting on the orders of Guinean military leader Mamady Doumbouya – landed on Sunday, November 3, declaring that they were in town to arrest a Guinean national accused of recruiting former members of the defunct rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (known as Lurd), in a bid to overthrow the government of Guinea. Undertaken in darkness, and outside existing Mano River Union and ECOWAS channels, the act could have led to a different outcome.

This is the second time an elected government during a non-crisis time has allowed Guinean military personnel on Liberian soil. After the 1979 rice riot, President Tolbert was criticized for allowing Guinean troops on Liberian soil by many, including senior TWP government officials and members of both progressive camps, PAL and MOJA.

While the government has been tightlipped, multiple sources confirmed to FrontPageAfrica that Cherif was apprehended and detained at the Monrovia Central Prison after security personnel were notified of his entry from Guinea. Allegedly, Cherif was recruiting former combatants in Liberia with the intention of challenging the junta government in Guinea. His family members in both countries are reportedly worried for his safety and unsure of his exact location.

Liberian security sources confirmed to FrontPageAfrica that Cherif, a non-Liberian national, was indeed handed over to Guinean authorities. Despite Ja’neh’s claim that Cherif is a Liberian citizen who should be tried under Liberian law, a copy of Cherif’s passport supplied by Liberian security intelligence, but could not be verified, indicates that he is a Guinean born in Lola, Guinea.

Family of Cherif argue that he is in fact, a Liberian. Cherif’s grandfather, seen in a photograph provided by Cherif’s family, shaking hands with President Tolbert, is the late Alhaji Matea Sekou Sherif. Family members say Cherif was born in Liberia but sent by his parents to Guinea for Islamic studies. They claim he was actually born on Crown Hill, Monrovia, which makes him a Liberian. Cherif’s family says he opted for the Guinean traveling document to go to the Middle East for studies, since that was the easiest route, Guinea being a Muslim dominant country. Cherif’s family argue that all of this information was made available to the Liberian Police and agents of the National Security Agency.

Cherif’s disappearance prompted Criminal Court “A” Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie issued a 72-hour ultimatum last Friday to the ruling Unity Party government, demanding the living body of Cherif.

For some months now, the Guinean junta has been accusing former President Condé, who has been in exile in Turkey, of recruiting mercenaries in Liberia to overthrow the military government. According to Guinean authorities, several recruits have been apprehended and returned to Guinea for prosecution. However, beyond Cherif, FrontPageAfrica has not verified whether other Guineans have been extradited by Liberia. Questions remain about whether any deportations were conducted in accordance with legal protocols.

Condé Reportedly Been Trying to Reach Boakai

FrontPageAfrica has also gathered from sources at the RIA that Cherif is not the first accused Guinean to have been picked up. In September, an unnamed individual was also picked up in Liberia after a military flight from Guinea flew in with Guinean commandos, armed and wearing military uniforms.

In the days prior to the arrest of Cherif, security officials acknowledged that there may have been some efforts by Condé to speak with Liberian President Joseph Boakai. In fact, security officials say, President Boakai was fully aware of the dangers emanating from the perception that he had any discussions with Condé.

“We are sitting down one Thursday, and we got news that Alpha Condé had left Turkey and was in Cote d’Ivoire on his way to Liberia – and that he was supposed to meet the President,” the source confided to FrontPageAfrica.

The source said top officials around the President rushed to him to inform him what was in the air. When contacted, President Boakai reportedly told aides, ‘That he had received some calls from unknown and strange numbers, but he never spoke with Condé.’ The source quoted the President as saying: ‘I cannot meet this man because everyone knows that I cannot be in touch with Condé, considering existing fears the current military government has.’

Both the Executive Mansion and the Ministry of Justice declined to publicly address the issue when contacted.

Apparently, FPA has gathered that the Guineans had called frantically that Condé was on his way to Monrovia only to find out that Condé was actually in Cote d’Ivoire.

Turkish officials, the sources contend, have been unhelpful, and declined to cooperate with Liberian authorities regarding Condé. The Turkish government, the sources say, has not given any information whatsoever regarding Condé.

“The Guineans made a representation and sent a delegation to say, ‘Look, if Liberia cannot cooperate, they will have to declare war on Liberia because it was just getting too much and that they would have no choice but to move into Liberia and seize territory where they were suspicious of former Lurd rebels, using Liberia to enter Guinea and overthrow the military government. They were clear that they had no issue with starting a war; that they would do it because their sovereignty was under threat.”

The Condé threat – whether real or not, continues to strike fear in the circle of the military junta. Just last November, Guinean Justice Minister Alphonse Charles Wright announced an investigation into Condé for treason.

The investigation into Condé follows a litany of judicial probes including corruption allegations, assassination, torture, kidnapping and rape from his tenure as President. Since his ouster, new probes have been looking into “alleged acts of treason, criminal conspiracy and complicity in the illicit possession of arms and ammunition,” according to a letter from Wright to the public prosecutor in Guinea’s capital of Conakry. The letter alleges Condé had acquired weapons and ammunition, but did not provide details.

The Guinean junta’s fears come as Condé, 85, has been comfortably living in Turkey with some well-connected old friends and unafraid to make his voice heard on hot political topics in Guinea – moves that continue to make Doumbouya and his government jittery.

Prior to the arrest of Cherif, Aboubacar Sylla, the Guinean ambassador in Liberia reportedly showed Liberian intelligence authorities Interpol documentations and a note verbale, making the case for Cherif to be turned over to Guinea.

Suspicion Over FIR Handling of Landing Right

FrontPageAfrica has learned that a decision was quietly made to arrest Cherif and turn him over to the Guinean embassy but that had not been finalized.

Because the Guineans were afraid that allowing Cherif to roam around Monrovia would be problematic and make Doumbouya and his junta even more nervous amid existing fears of recruitment of former Lurd rebels on Liberian soil, the decision was apparently accelerated on the Guinea end to send in the commandos to get Cherif back to Guinea.

“If it meant him being released, he should not be allowed to be free within the borders of Liberia because that would have been worse, especially so when he was a Guinean national. Also, releasing him to go free in Liberia would have confirmed the Guinean fears that Liberia was indeed harboring dissidents to overthrow the Guinean junta government,” a security source told FPA at the weekend.

Where things got a little sticky, multiple sources told FPA, is that the Guineans were due in Liberia on Monday, November the 4th, for a meeting on the issue of Cherif’s turnover. Somehow, mysteriously, FPA was informed, the Guineans got landing rights to land the private jet shortly after midnight on Sunday, November 3rd.

To do so, the Guineans needed the approval of the Roberts Flight Information Region, a tripartite organization responsible for the control and safety of air navigation in the combined upper airspace of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. However, each member state manages its portion of the airspace from the ground to 3000 ft. Mean Sea Level (MSL). In the spirit of the Chicago Convention of 1944 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Roberts FIR was established on Aeronautical Cooperation on 17th January 1975, signed by late President Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, late President William R. Tolbert of Liberia, and late President Siaka Stevens of Sierra Leone. The goal was to provide expeditious air navigation services and ensure air traffic safety, efficiency, and regularity in the combined airspace of the three Member states.

What made it easy for the Guineans, according to security officials, is Ngobu Mantho, Deputy Director for Technical Services at the Roberts FIR is a Guinean national. It was Mantho, security sources say, who was instrumental in securing the landing rights for the jet carrying the commandos to land. “While we were delaying them and saying we could not give you any landing rights or information on what was unfolding with Cherif, you won’t believe that Saturday around 11 0’ clock we got word that the people had gotten landing rights behind us,” said the security source.

The source added: “When we called the RIA, we were informed that they have this thing on the internet where people can request landing rights and verify. So, they had no control. The source explained that Mantho, the Deputy for Technical Services, used his position to request landing rights for the flight.

“You won’t believe who all arrived on that flight: six armed commandos with ammunition. I understand the guy who came is number two in the junta next to Dumbouya. When our own army folks described what they saw, you yourself, who is a civilian, will be in shock. The guys arrived at the airport in a jungle style and said they were not talking to anybody. The Guinean foreign minister Morissanda Kouyaté contacted the Liberian foreign minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti and Dombouya made it clear that the Guineans were ready for war. The Guineans were at the airport and refused to speak to anybody. They were communicating with Dumbouya in their war room in Guinea.

‘Cherif Still Alive,’ Liberian Govt. Source says.

Ironically, FPA has learned that while the Roberts FIR has the responsibility to provide air navigation services and manage the upper airspace of its member states, when it comes below 3000ft, it is managed by individual states. The airport authority and Civil Aviation Authority manage the lower airspace up to approach, landing and ground handling. The civil aviation in Liberia is the sole authority that gives or issues landing permits in the specific case of Liberia, raising questions about the government’s own explanation and how the landing rights issue was handled.

Accordingly, after the jet landed at the RIA and the commandos’ refusal to speak to junior officers, Liberian security sources say, the local intelligence officers briefed the executive branch that they had to take a quick decision on the guarantee that Cherif will receive due process in Guinea. Immediately, Cherif was turned over to the Guineans and he was taken out of the country, reportedly by the commandos.

FrontPageAfrica has been informed that in order to follow up on Guinea’s promise that Cherif would not be harmed, an emissary from Liberia traveled to Guinea to confirm that. FPA has also been informed that a joint investigation is ongoing with the Guineans.

A senior UP government source told FPA at the weekend: “This is necessary because we are hearing that arms and ammunition are also in Liberia and if we are not very careful, it could be used in Liberia. So, a joint investigation is going on. As far as I know, Cherif is not dead because he is a very important information tool for both the Guinean junta and the Liberian government. He’s a needed character. If he is killed, there will be no way of finding out what we want out of him. As far as I know from the emissary we sent to Guinea and the ongoing investigation, Cherif is still alive. The situation is calm but is still very tense in terms of the trust and the confidence.”

For the immediate future, outside valid video, or photographic evidence that Cherif is still alive, it is unclear what implications the ordeal of the past week will have in the long term for Liberia and Guinea ties in the wider peace and stability. For many political and diplomatic observers, recent uneasiness in the Sahel and West Africa, leading to an alarming number of military coups, has put the West African subregion on edge. The Mano River Union in particular has its work cut out as many fear a spillover effect in any one country could spell dangers for the rest.

Russia, China Lurking

Liberia, nurturing a successive democratic transition, along with Sierra Leone, has so far played along with the expectations of international stakeholders advocating for peaceful democratic transitions. However, recent coups in countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger — which recently formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — is no doubt threatening the trend as countries like Guinea, led by a military junta, and others, eye closer cooperation with China and Russia, prompting concerns and dismay from pro-democracy agents. Guinea in particular is of concern due to its strategic closeness to Liberia. As Doumbouya and his junta entrench their grip on power, the threat is clear.

In recent days, emissaries of President Boakai have held meetings with leaders of the Mandingo community in a bid to explain the Cherif saga, offering shadowy details and explanations of what has been transpiring over the past few days. But even amid the attempt to ease tensions, Liberian government officials are facing the reality of the unexpected.

“The truth of the matter is, we are still on a very tense, difficult matter. The matter is very, very sensitive. We were just a minute away from war. We had armed foreign soldiers at our airport. If one bullet had fired, the airport would have shut down. In fact, the immigration reported that a Guinean flag was put up in some parts of Lofa and they had to take it down later on. So, we are having this problem and that’s what is in the briefing. We are dealing with a very sensitive dilemma here.”

The delicate nature of the Guinea-Liberia tension bears familiarity to a squabble in August 2012 between next door neighbors Sierra Leone and Guinea regarding the border town of Yenga. In 2005, Sierra Leone and Guinea signed an agreement confirming Yenga – a tiny town on the banks of the Makona River – belonged to Sierra Leone. However, Guinean troops remained in the town. Although the two countries eventually pledged to resolve the dispute over control of Yenga town through dialogue, many Sierra Leoneans at the time expressed dismay and accused Guinea of bullying. Guinean troops had entered the town more than a decade ago to help the Sierra Leonean army fight rebels but refused to hand the town back to the Sierra Leonean government after defeating the uprising. At the time, it was believed the Guineans were afraid that the town could be used as an entry point for uprising, thus their defiance over the matter. In the end, both sides agreed to work out the modalities on a buffer zone.

With echoes of history lingering in the backdrop of the controversial extradition of a Guinean national from Liberia, it remains to be seen whether the decision by Liberia, was simply done in panic, to  satisfy the paranoia and fears of a military dictatorship out to get its enemies – and how much of a threat former President Condé is to the Doumbouya military junta. More importantly, what implications the extradition of Cherif could have on future Liberia-Guinea relations. For many political observers, the most important outcome lies on what the Guinea military junta does with the suspected coup plotter in its custody and what it could mean for long-term regional stability and peace.

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