Sawt Falasteen - Thousands attend funeral of Liberian ex-warlord Prince Johnson

Back-to-back conflicts devastated the small west African country from 1989 until 2003, claiming around 250,000 lives and resulting in massacres, mutilation, rape, cannibalism and the widespread use of child soldiers.

Johnson became infamous in 1990 after appearing in a video sipping beer as he calmly watched his fighters mutilate and torture president Samuel Doe to death.

The former rebel leader was identified as having the highest number of violations by any individual perpetrator during the gruesome wars, according to a 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report.

Saturday's burial marked the end of a five-day state funeral which saw his body displayed outside parliament in the capital Monrovia before being transported to his home county of Nimba.

Johnson's supporters and government officials, including President Joseph Boakai, crowded the grounds of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company in Ganta city in Nimba.

"Though opinion may differ on his legacy, what can all of us agree on is that he played a significant part in Liberia's journey, shaping our past, influencing our present, and leaving a mark on our future," Boakai said in a speech during the ceremony.

Boakai's predecessor George Weah described Johnson as "to many a hero, to others a father figure" who had a profound influence on the country.

Some in the crowd hailing from Nimba donned traditional attire, wearing red and daubing their faces with white chalk.

- 'The biggest tree has fallen' -

According to the TRC, Johnson's crimes spanned killing, extortion, massacre, destruction of property, forced recruitment, assault, abduction, torture, forced labour and rape.

He went on to become a highly influential senator, acting as kingmaker in the last three presidential elections before his death in November aged 72.

Some mourners carried fake wooden guns, which they said symbolised Johnson's warrior-like nature and depicted his role defending Nimba during the civil war.

"The biggest tree that we all depended on has fallen," said 65-year-old Charles G. Wondor, a farmer from Nimba.

"We are thinking that we wouldn't have anyone to replace him because the way he contributed to the county and to the people, we don't think we can ever get anyone like him," he added.

Another group of supporters -- dressed in black with red hats -- beat drums, clapped, danced and sang.

"Prince Johnson was a great man," said Darling N. Nuahn, a businesswoman from Nimba.

"It is so regrettable to lose him".

The burial took place at the nearby PYJ Polytechnic University, an institution founded and named after the late senator.

Despite being among eight warlords the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended be prosecuted for gross human rights violations, Johnson never faced justice as the recommendations were not implemented.

After initially allying with Charles Taylor, Liberia's future president who was later convicted of crimes against humanity, Johnson broke away and was forced into exile in Nigeria in 1992, where he stayed for 12 years.

- 'Above the law' -

"He managed to have such an influence politically when he came back from Nigeria that he managed to somehow confiscate or hijack this justice effort from the TRC," Alain Werner, lawyer and director of NGO Civitas Maxima, told AFP by telephone.

"In a way, until he died eventually last year, he was above the law".

Johnson returned to Liberia in 2004 with a message of peace and reconciliation, becoming a preacher in an evangelical church.

The father of 12 never expressed regret over his past actions.

"I have done nothing criminal... I fought to defend my country, my people who were led to the slaughterhouse, as if they were chickens and goats, by the Doe regime," Johnson said while running for president in 2011, when he finished third.

In 2005, he became a senator for Nimba county, where he enjoyed widespread popularity.

He was a long-standing and vocal opponent of the creation of a war crimes court, arguing that such a move could destabilise the country.

President Boakai in May signed a decree creating an office responsible for setting up a special war and economic crimes court.

V.Said--SF-PST