wfn.org | CORRECTED -- ACTIVE U.S. ROLE, HUMANITARIAN AID URGENT FOR

["Church World Service News" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

CORRECTED
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ACTIVE U.S. ROLE, HUMANITARIAN AID URGENT FOR LIBERIA, CWS SAYS

June 6, 2003, NEW YORK CITY - The global humanitarian agency Church World
Service is urging the United States to take an active and immediate role in
war-battered Liberia, where an already desperate humanitarian situation
worsened this week in the wake of announcement of the indictment of Liberian
President Charles Taylor for war crimes.

CWS further emphasized the need for deployment of an African stabilization
force in Liberia, which would help create a climate conducive to cease-fire
negotiations, convening of an All-Liberia Peace Conference and ultimately
the return to normalcy and democratic governance.

Panic erupted in the streets of Monrovia, Liberias capital city, on
Wednesday (June 4) when word came of the indictment  - just as long-awaited
talks opened in Ghana with the goal of ending Liberias 13-year civil war.

Taylor addressed the opening session of the peace conference.  He indicated
willingness to step down from the presidency by the end of the year, but
there were conflicting reports concerning under what conditions he would do
so.  Then he abruptly left and flew back to Monrovia, where he said his
forces had foiled a coup attempt while he was away.

These developments threaten the long-awaited talks, upon which Liberias
2.7 million citizens have pinned so many hopes, said the Rev. John L.
McCullough, CWS Executive Director.  We also fear that in the chaos in
Monrovia, where tens of thousands of Liberians have taken refuge from the
fighting that has engulfed their country, humanitarian conditions will
deteriorate and delivery of humanitarian aid will be jeopardized, further
deepening the misery of people who already have suffered too long.

Church World Service has funded five Liberian church leaders participation
in the current peace talks, which result in large part from the persistent
diplomacy of the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia, comprising the Liberian
Council of Churches and the National Muslim Council of Liberia.

Hundreds of thousands of Liberians have been uprooted from their homes by
fighting between government and rebel forces, which has driven them into
overcrowded camps where they live in deplorable conditions.  The fighting
has rendered 80 percent of the country inaccessible to urgently needed
humanitarian assistance.  Church leaders report a proliferation of armed
groups, forced recruitment of children aged 12 to 18 years and amputations
of men, women and children by the belligerent forces.

The CWS program of emergency assistance to Liberians includes an airlift
this week of 1,500 blankets, 3,984 cans of processed beef, 1,000 personal
hygiene kits and 4,300 pounds of rice.	The goods are scheduled to arrive in
Monrovia today (June 6) for distribution by two CWS partners - Concerned
Christian Community and the YMCA - to Liberians displaced by the war.

A nearly identical CWS aid shipment (with slightly more beef but minus the
rice) in mid-April helped nearly 3,600 pregnant and nursing mothers,
children and elderly in six internally displaced persons (IDP) camps near
Monrovia, said the CCCs director, the Rev. Kortu Brown.  He confirmed the
successful distribution of the goods - including to two camps where attacks
in early April had led the World Food Program to suspend food deliveries.

Church World Service still needs $100,000 toward its goal for $150,000 in
support for three more projects, including nutrition, health care,
education, trauma recovery and leadership training for displaced persons.
CWS also supports emergency assistance for Liberian refugees in neighboring
Sierra Leone; a 38,000-pound shipment of rice is scheduled for departure by
ship next week.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF INDICTMENT DESTABILIZES MONROVIA

The indictment against Liberias President Taylor was issued on March 7 but
unsealed only on June 4 to coincide with Taylors presence in Ghana for the
peace talks.  The indictment was handed down by a United Nations-backed
Special Court in Sierra Leone, which accused him of supporting the rebel
forces that murdered, mutilated and raped thousands of innocent men, women
and children during the decade-long civil war in that country.

When news of the indictment reached Monrovia, the capital city went amok,
reported the Rev. Brown.  Human and vehicular traffic got off track in all
directions as people ran home from fear of violence.

The streets regained some measure of calm, but on Thursday (June 5),
fighting flared in Brewerville, the western suburbs of Monrovia where
Concerned Christian Community has programs with internally displaced
persons.

I was personally in the area when fighting flared and thousands of people
were running helter-skelter, he said on Thursday.  As I write I have just
been informed that another attack has been reported in another area of the
community.  Please pray for us.  The situation is cause for serious concern
as people dont know what will be happening next.

Today (June 6), the Associated Press reported that battles between
government and rebel forces on the western outskirts of Monrovia had sent
thousands of people fleeing to the center of the capital.

Taylors early departure from the peace conference is regrettable, given
the difficulty of convening such a conference and the importance of his
participation in helping bring about a durable solution to the Liberian
civil war, said Victor Hsu, Senior Advisor to the Church World Service
Executive Director.  Hsu met Taylor last July in connection with an official
CWS delegation visit to West Africa.

Church World Service is striving to enlist U.S. churches and government
leaders to take an active interest on behalf of Liberias beleaguered
people, who feel forgotten by the United States, Liberias long-time ally.

-end-

Media Contacts:

Carol Fouke, New York: 212-870-2252/2227/news@ncccusa.org
Jan Dragin, Boston: 781-925-1526/jdragin@gis.net