Liberian Warlord Finds God

Milton Blahyi, 37,a former rebel commander in Liberia's civil war, has admitted to taking part in human sacrifices as part of traditional ceremonies intended to ensure victory before going into battle.

He said the sacrifices "included the killing of an innocent child and plucking out the heart, which was divided into pieces for us to eat."

There had been rumours of human sacrifices during the 1979-93 conflict but this is the first time anyone has admitted publicly to the practice.

Mr Blahyi, is nicknamed in Liberia "General Butt Naked" because he went into combat with no clothes just a pair of laced-up boots and sporting an erection , to scare the enemy .

He told Liberia's Truth Commission that his forces had killed 20,000 people.

At that time there were many so called generals like General Murder, Rambo, Terminator, Jungle Killer, General War Boss III, General Housebreaker, No-mother-no-father, General F**k-me-quick and Babykiller all of whom loved puppies and their mothers very much and gave generously to charities.

His Buttnaked brigade were famous for using decapitated heads as soccer balls. Drug-fueled teens who went into battle in flowing dresses and colorful wigs. Cross-dressing is claimed to be a military mind game, a tactic that instills fear in their rivals.

Does this AK-47 make me look fat?

It also makes the soldiers feel more pretty and invincible. This belief is founded on a superstition which holds that soldiers can "confuse the enemy's bullets" and sexually confuse the enemy themselves.

He is now an Evangelist preacher, who prefers to use the name Joshua as "Preacher Butt Naked" isn't the kind of image he wants anymore.

Blahyi first became exposed to the killings in 1982 when, at the age of 11, he was ordained "the traditional priest of his tribe." He had to fight on behalf of president Samuel Doe as they were from the same ethnic group.

He also fought against the militia of Charles Taylor, currently on trial for war crimes in The Hague. Blahyi fought for money and power like all the Warlords did.

He said he thought that confessing to what he had done and asking for forgiveness could help heal the country's wounds and get him on TV.

"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, because its all about me."

He stopped fighting in 1996, saying God appeared to him as he was charging naked into battle and told him he was doing Satan's work and that his penis wasn't that impressive, he claims that God is also black.

He is now often seen preaching on street corners and churches in the capital, Monrovia, handing out leaflets in a loud annoying self-righteous way .

"I now preach against murder and making human sacrifices," he said.

"Some people see me and congratulate me and let me date their daughters."

"Others see me and say I should not be walking down the streets of Monrovia posing proud. But I continue to tell such people I am not proud, I am ashamed but at least now I shall get into Heaven."

"If you have an individual admitting that he and his group killed over 20,000 people, certainly there should be a mechanism put in place for such people to face justice," said Mulbah Morlue, who heads the Forum for the Establishment of a War Crimes Court in Liberia. "But what can you do in a country with no public restrooms where men think that raping a baby is good luck and helps prevent or cure HIV Aids?"

The war is now over but thousands of UN peacekeepers remain in the country ready to stand by and watch more people be killed.

While asking for forgiveness, Blahyi says he's ready for whatever the truth commission will decide to do to him not that he thinks they have any power to punish him.

He also says that he can't be accused of what he was doing during the civil war, it was Satan and the neighbour's dog that possessed him.

"I could be electrocuted, I could be hanged," he said. "But I think forgiveness and reconciliation is the right way to go besides I run like the wind and God is on my side."

He sells recordings of his sermons for $20 a piece that he claims will go to build schools for young ex-fighters like him. He says: "Even now I'm fighting. I'm fighting a spiritual war."