Liberia's interim government lifted a three-day curfew today as calm returned to the capital Monrovia after three days of riots that left at least 11 people dead.
Mr Gyude Bryant, a low-profile businessman sworn in as chairman of the transitional government in October, repealed the curfew imposed on Tuesday and said in a statement that steps had been taken to prevent fresh unrest.
"It's the government's hope that all concerned have learnt the appropriate lessons from the past few days," Mr Bryant said. The catalyst for the unrest was a UN disarmament programme which kicked off on Sunday, aiming to cement an August peace deal which capped 14 years of civil war in the West African country.
Government militiamen loyal to exiled former President Charles Taylor went on the rampage after learning they would get half of the $300 they had been promised only at the end of a three-week demobilisation programme, and the rest later.
The fighters - many of them young men who have known little else in life than war and are used to grabbing what they want at gunpoint - smashed and hijacked cars and fired their weapons.
They also clashed at least three times with UN peacekeepers trying to restore order. Several witnesses said 11 people had been killed, although some residents put the death toll at between 13 and 19 people.