wfn.org | Churches: Make Liberia's Peace `Irreversible'

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE - NEWSBRIEF

April 21, 1997

CHURCHES: MAKE LIBERIA'S PEACE `IRREVERSIBLE'

Fourteen aid agencies working in Liberia urged President Bill
Clinton to make the peace process in that country "irreversible."
In a March letter, Lutheran World Relief and Catholic, Methodist
and Episcopal agencies requested firm U.S. support for a
democratic transition to peace rather than continued emergency
aid in the midst of continuing instability.  The United States
can provide leadership, LWR said, by supporting West African
peacekeepers in Liberia, by insisting on complete disarmament of
the warring factions before planned elections and by helping
rebuild the country's infrastructure.  After seven years of civil
war, including a brutal reprise of fighting last year, Liberia's
2.5 million people are divided:  one third are refugees, one
third are internally displaced and one third have managed to stay
in their homes.  LWR work in Liberia includes relief aid, seeds
and tools for farmers and community building programs.  Lutheran
World Relief is the overseas relief and development arm of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html