Liberian Ex-Rebel Says He Killed Thousands

MONROVIA, Liberia — One of Liberia's most notorious rebel commanders, known as General Butt Naked for charging into battle wearing only boots, has returned to confess his role in terrorizing the nation, saying he is responsible for 20,000 deaths.

Joshua Milton Blahyi, who now lives in Ghana, returned last week to face his homeland's truth and reconciliation commission, this time wearing a suit and tie. His nom de guerre is derived from his platoon's practice of charging naked into battle, a technique meant to terrify the enemy.

Other former warlords, though, have refused to ask forgiveness, dismissing a commission many in Liberia see as toothless. Mr. Blahyi is urging other former killers to come forward as the country founded by freed American slaves in 1847 struggles to recover from past horrors.

"I could be electrocuted. I could be hanged. I could be given any other punishment," the 37-year-old Mr. Blahyi said in a weekend interview following his truth commission appearance last week. "But I think forgiveness and reconciliation is the right way to go. "I have been looking for an opportunity to tell the true story about my life — and every time I tell people my story, I feel relieved."

The civil war, which killed an estimated 250,000 people in this nation of 3 million, was characterized by the eating of human hearts and soccer matches played with human skulls. Drugged fighters waltzed into battle wearing women's wigs, flowing gowns, and carrying dainty purses stolen from civilians.

Before he led his fighters into battle, wearing only a pair of laceup boots, Mr. Blahyi said he made a human sacrifice to the devil.

The sacrifice was typically "the killing of an innocent child and plucking out the heart which was divided into pieces for us to eat," he told the Associated Press on Saturday.

He appeared before the commission January 15 — and put a figure to his killing spree for the first time.

"More than 20,000 people fell victim [to me and my men]. They were killed," said Mr. Blahyi, who dated the beginning of his murders to 1982, when he was ordained as a ritual priest responsible for making human sacrifices before battle.

He said when he later led his fighters against the insurgency launched by Charles Taylor, he commanded them to embrace this tradition.

Some say Mr. Blahyi's confession is proof Liberia needs a war crimes court, not a commission. The commission, modeled on the one in post-apartheid South Africa, has been taking testimony from victims and former rebels for two years, urging a full accounting of wartime atrocities. While the commission cannot charge killers with a crime, it can recommend charges be brought. Meanwhile, several notorious killers have refashioned themselves as influential politicians in Liberia.