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----APRIL 14, 1979, increase in the price of rice from $22 per 100 lb. bag of parboiled rice, to $30, led to demonstrations in Monrovia; the government responded with firearms, forty people were killed, many wounded; President Tolbert further responded to the crisis by calling in for foreign troops from neighboring Republic of Guinea to keep the peace.
----APRIL 12, 1980, a group of noncommissioned officers led by:Thomas Quiwonkpa; Thomas Weh-Syen; Master Sergeant Samuel Doe; Harrison Dahn; Harrison Pennue; and Nelson Toe;( According to Thomas Quiwonkpa Nelson Toe was the man who killed President Tolbert and disemboweled him) stormed the Executive Mansion, and assassinated President William Ricahrd Tolbert, seized power, and declared a junta called the "People's Redemption Council," or PRC. Samuel Doe was elected Chairman of the PRC and Head of State of Liberia; Thomas Weh-Syen was elected Vice-Chairman of the PRC; and Thomas Quiwonkpa, became Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia.
The picture above shows the leaders of the 1980 military coup. I call them "THE EASTERN ASSASSINS." All of them were from eastern Liberia. This picture shows them in happier days. From left to right are:Sergeant Nicholas Podier, a Grebo-Liberian, he became Speaker of the Interim-National Assembly, but was later dismissed and executed on the orders of President Doe; Sergeant Thomas "strongman" Quiwonkpa ", a Gio-Liberian, became Commending General of the Armed Forces of Liberia; Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, a Khran-Liberian, and the most senior noncommission officer, became Head of State; and Sergeant Thomas Weh Syen, a Kru-Liberian, became Deputy Head of State. Samuel Doe's rule lasted from April 12, 1980 to September 10, 1990. All of these men died violently. Thomas Weh Syen, the most radical of the group, was executed on August 14, 1981 for allegedly plotting to kill Doe; Thomas Quiwonkpa was executed, dismembered, and allegedly cannibalized, after he led the putsch of November 12, 1985 against Doe; and Doe himself was executed on September 10, 1990 in the midst of the Liberian-civil war. Doe's arms were reportedly "battered, legs amputated, one eye poked out, and genitals severed."
The picture on the left is that of Corporal Nelson Toe, the youngest member of the PRC. According to Thomas Quiwonkpa, Toe was the first man who shot President Tolbert on the night of the coup. He was assisted by Thomas Weh Syen. Toe and Weh Syen were both executed on April 14,1981, for allegedly staging a putsch.
The picture above shows soldiers preparing the execution of13 senior members of the Tolbert Administration. The men tied to the electric poles, and facing imminent execution are: (right to left,after the soldier in the white hat) Frank Tolbert, (in dark pants) brother of President Tolbert and President Pro-Temp of the Liberian Senate; Cyril Bright, Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs; C. Cecil Dennis, Jr., Minister of Foreign Affairs; James A.A. Pierre, Chief Justice of Liberia; Richard A. Henries, Speaker of the House of Representatives; and at far left is,Frank Stewart, Director of the Budget.
Facing imminent execution, the agony of death shows in the faces of four of the key leaders of the Tolbert Administration. They are: Richard Henries, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Frank Tolbert, President Pro Tem of the Senate; C.Cecil Dennis, Jr., Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Frank Stewart, Director of the Bureau of the Budget.
----APRIL 14, 1981: Major General Thomas Weh-Syen, Vice Chairman of the People's Redemption Council, and four other officers, were executed for plotting to kill Head of State Samuel Doe. Weh-Syen was considered leader of the left wing of the PRC, which opposed close relations with the United States.
----1982, the PRC issued "Decree 2A," banned all intellectual activities critical to the PRC.
----NOVEMBER, 1983: An alleged putsch involving Commanding General Thomas Quiwonkpa was uncovered; Head of State Samuel Doe granted him clemency. However, Quiwonkpa was demoted to Secretary General of the PRC, a position that he refused. Subsequently, he moved to Nimba County, the region where he was born, but fled the country, when he determined that his life was in danger. During that same year, Charles Taylor, the current President of Liberia (he served as the Director of General Services Agency, and Deputy Minister of Commerce under President Doe) was charged with corruption, and went into self-imposed exile.
------JULY 3, 1984, a new constitution for the Second Republic, drafted in 1983, is approved in a national referendum. The PRC was replaced by the Interim National Assembly, (Doe became President of the Assembly and Dr. Harry Moniba became Vice President) which was to pave the way for general elections in 1985 and civilian rule in 1986.
---On August, 20, 1984, Dr. Amos Sawyer, a professor at the University of Liberia, and chairman of Liberia People's Party, was arrested for being part of a "socialist plot" to overthrow the Liberian Government. The University faculty responded by demanding the release of Dr Sawyer. President Doe responded to the faculty demand by dismissing the entire administration and faculty of the university . Over 1,000 students responded to the arrest and dismissals by going on a strike in support of Dr. sawyer and the faculty of the university. On AUGUST 22, 1984, President Doe gave the following orders to his military: "Mr. Minister of Defense, Mr. Army Chief of Staff, I want the students at the University campus to disperse without delay. Now! And you will move or remove!" Over 200 soldiers from the Executive Mansion Guard stormed the University campus, shooting, beating, and raping students. Over 100 students were injured, and about $2 million dollars in damages to University property was reported.
---April 1, 1985, Colonel Moses M.D. Flanzamaton, Assistant Commander of the Executive mansion Guards, allegedly attacked President Samuel Doe as he returned from his Sinkor home in a 4-wheel Mitsubishi SUV. Flanzamaton was later executed.
----October 15, 1985: General elections that was intended to return Liberia to civilian rule were held. Head of State, Samuel Doe, and his National Democratic Party of Liberia claimed that they won 50.9 percent of the vote. However, the Doe Administration was accused of vote rigging; thousands of ballots were destroyed, but later uncovered. It was generally believed, that Jackson F. Doe, a former Minister of Education in the Tolbert Administration, and leader of the Liberian Action Party was the winner of the election.
----NOVEMBER 12, 1985, Thomas Quiwonkpa, former Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia, and former member of the PRC, returned to Liberia via Sierra Leone, and staged a putsch. Quiwonkpa was later apprehended by Doe's forces, killed, dismembered, and according to reports, part of his body was consumed by his executioners. Nation-wide reprisals against the plotters, and the Gio people (Quiwonkpa's ethnic group) erupted into a national frenzy of executions, castrations, dismemberment of bodies, rapes, flogging, and imprisonment without trials. Between 500 to 1,000 Liberians were reportedly killed.
----JANUARY 6, 1986, Samuel Doe was inaugurated President of Liberia, beginning the era of the Second Republic.
Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), 6,300 men; Executive Mansion Guard (EMG); Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, (SATU); First Infantry Battalion of the (AFL); G-2, military intelligence; National Security Agency, (NSA); National Police Force, (NPF); and the Special Security Service, (SSS).
According to Amnesty International and reports by the United States Department of State "Liberian Country Report on Human Rights Practices," the NPFL committed massive human rights violation against the Liberian people. In Maryland County, the NPFL reportedly killed hundreds of civilians, when it fought the Liberian Peace Council, another rebel group. The NPFL also robbed and kill unarmed civilians in Bong County, as they fled for their life. In 1994, the NPFL was reported to have executed 80 of its own fighters without trial. Most of this information was reported to have been revealed after Tom Woewiyu and Sam Dokie, two leaders of the NPFL, broke away from the NPFL and formed the Central Revolutionary Counci. Woewiyu is reported to have said that, Charles Taylor ordered the execution of Jackson F. Doe, leader of the Liberian Action Party; Gabriel Kpolleh of the Liberia Unification Party; Stephen Yekeson, President of the University of Liberia; Nimba County Senator David Toweh; and Commerce Minister David Dwanyen. In 1994, the NPFL reportedly executed senior commanders who allowed Gbarnga to fall to ULIMO.
During the election for Vice-Agent in 1826, the Independent Volunteer Company candidate ran and won. According to Jehudi Ashmun's biographer, when Jehudi discovered what had happened, he refused to "confirm the chosen candidate in office, and stated his reasons, which were entirely of a political nature." That afternoon, the leaders of the Independent Volunteer sent out a circular, which protested the annulment in the following words:"..the right of election conferred by the Board of managers [of the American colonization Society] on the people of the colony, as it never had been, so it never should be interfered with by the Agent; consequently appointments to offices of trust in the Colony, once legally made by the concurrence of the popular choice, with his own approbation, should never be rescinded by any arbitrary act on his part; and that the actual incumbents must remain in their offices till removed in the only way prescribed by the provisions of Government; that is, by vote of a majority of the electors of the Colony." In response to their protest, Jehudi Ashmun noted that the leaders of the Independent Volunteer Company were, "high spirited young men, all excellent soldiers, but bad politicians." The Agent rescheduled another election, in which his handpicked candidate won the election under manipulative conditions. Commenting on the results of the new elections, Jehudi said, "The Agent...has the high satisfaction of finding himself sustained by a body of assistants, in whose good dispositions and capacity he has great confidence." Subsequently, the rigging of elections in Liberia became the norm over the years. This eventually led to a de facto one-party dictatorship.
Institutionalized ethnic and racial hatred also contributed to the crisis. Back in 1822, after the ACS and the American government took possession of the Liberian settlement through fraudulent means, the indigenous people who own the land rose up and attempted to evict the new emigrants through lethal means, but failed. For another 158 years, the struggle continued between the descendants of repatriate African-Americans and "Congos" (those recaptured by the American navy and settled in Liberia) on the one hand, and the indigenous people who attempted to gain for themselves, a prominent place in Liberian political and economic life.
Within the Liberian state itself, a bitter class struggle between the mulattoes and African-Americas of pure African ancestry divided the nation . In 1870, E.J. Roye the first African-American of pure African heritage was elected President of Liberia. In 1871 he was murdered in a civilian coup that was headed by Joseph Jenkins Roberts and a group of prominent leaders of the mulatto community.
When African-American of pure African heritage permanently seized political control of the Liberian government in 1884, they continued the "old-boys network", of political dictatorship. From 1944 to 1980, the administrations of William V.S. Tubman and William R. Tolbert attempted to rectify the political and economic conditions that divided the people. To some extent, they succeeded in bridging the gap that divided the Liberia people into an indigenous "country people" and "Americo-Liberian" class. However, the change was not fast enough and not substantial enough to hold back the political tidal wave that was coming. The old guards continued to dominate political power, through a de facto one-party state, which even excluded members of the Americo-Liberian class who wanted political change.
On April 12, 1980, that status quo was brutally reversed, when a group of noncommissioned officers, led by Sergeant Samuel Doe from the Khran nation; Thomas Quiwonkpa, from the Gio nation; and Thomas Weh Syen from the Kru nation, stormed the Executive Mansion, executed President William Richard Tolbert, the nineteenth President of Liberia, seized power, and declared military rule under the aegis of the People's Redemption Council, PRC. Samuel Doe became Head of State, Weh Syen became Vice-Head of State, and Thomas Quiwonkpa became Commending General of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Like all military dictatorship, the jockeying for power subsequently began between Doe and Quiwonnkpa, when Quiwonkpa allegedly called for civilian rule, while Doe was determined to stay in power. In 1983, Quiwonkpa was demoted, and was subsequently charged with an attempt to overthrow the Doe Administration. The charges forced Quiwonkpa to flee the country.
On October 15, 1985, pressure from the international community forced the military government, under the aegis of Doe, to schedule an election that was to return Liberia to civilian rule. Unfortunately, General Doe reneged on his promise, and decided to formed his own political party (the National Democratic Party) to contest the general elections.The campaign, which was reportedly marked by intimidation and vote rigging by the Doe and his supporters, ended in victory for Samuel Doe. Despite Doe's claim that he won the elections, international observers who witnessed the election, reported that Jackson F. Doe (no relationship to General Doe) of the Liberia Action Party, was the actual winner. Jackson Doe was former Minister of Education in the Tolbert Administration, and like General Quiwonkpa, was from the Gio ethnic group.
On November 12, 1985, one month after the election, Quiwonkpa, supported by about 24 heavily armed men, covertly entered Liberia through Sierra Leone, and launched a putsch against President Doe. Bad timing, unorthodox methods used by Quiwonkpa, coupled with the fact that the United States did not support the uprising, couped with the allegation that Quiwonkpa had been mislead by an American CIA agent in Sierra Leone, resulted in the disastrous failure of the uprising. Quiwonkpa was later captured, killed, and mutilated, by Kran soldiers loyal to President Doe. In a massive campaign of retribution against the coup plotters and their supporters, General Doe and his army, allegedly went on a national killing spree, especially against innocent civilians who were associated with Quiwonkpa's Gio nation, and the ethnically related Mano people.
Despite the bloodletting that ensured, General Samuel Doe was sworn in as President of Liberia, on January 6, 1986, and thereby set the stage for Liberia's national nightmare. In December 1989, the civil war began. By August 7, 1990, the situation in Liberia had become so onerous, that a group of West African states under the aegis of the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) decided to intervene militarily to save the nation from descending further into anarchy.They formed ECOMOG or ECOWAS Monitoring Group.
In September, 1990, President Doe ventured out of his besieged residence at the Executive mansion, in an attempt to pay an official visit to General Quainoo, head of ECOMOG. He was captured by INPFL forces,(Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia) in a bitter fire fight; tortured--his ears were severed in a violent scene that was videotaped--and later executed.
Prince Y. Johnson, epitomized all that was deadly about the war. He captured and brutally murdered President Samuel Doe; he cold-bloodily murdered a Liberian who was working for the international relief agency, on grounds that the worker stole and sold some of the food that was rationed for displaced Liberian refugees; and he is reported to have summarily executed some of his own soldiers for raping civilians. Opposing forces reportedly cut and ran when they heard that he was in their vicinity. He was reportedly the judge and the executioner in the areas that he controlled.In January 1991, the NPFL established a government to run the land that it had captured. The government was known as the " National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly (NPRA)."
Alhaji Kromah, the man on the left, was one of the most cruel and vicious warlords in western Liberia. He and his fighters beheaded my uncle, and summarily executed my brother. Both men were civilians and had nothing to do with the war. Thousands of Liberians were murdered by this man and his bloodthirsty organization which he called "United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy." He continues to travel with impunity to the United States and Europe, using funds that he robbed from the dead and the Liberian people. A Moslem and a Mandingo-Liberian, Kromah and his men destroyed hundreds of villages in Lofa County, taking special care to destroy shrines of the Lomas and the Gbandi, whom he considered non-belivers of Islam. Why such a war criminal has been allowed to travel in the free world with impunity, says a lot about the don't-care attitude of the world toward the Liberian people and the seven years of death and suffering that they have endured under killers like Alhaji Kromah. These men who have caused so much pain, suffering, and death on the Liberian people, that the least they deserve is life without parole behind maximum security prisons.
From October 29 to 30, 1991, six heads of states (Captain Blaise Compaore of Burkinna Feso; Felix Houphouet-Boigny off Ivory Coast; General Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau; Lieutenant-Colonel Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali; Abbdou Diouf of Senegal, and Kokou Koffigoh of Togo) convened a meeting in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, and invited Dr Amos Sawyer of IGNU; and Charles Taylor of the NPFL. Out of that meeting came "Yamoussoukro IV Accord," which called for a cease fire; encampment of rebel forces; and the supervision of the cease fire by ECOMOG.
In October, 1992, the NPFL reneged on the "Yamoussoukro IV Accord," rearmed, and began a major assault on the city of Monrovia, which was code named "Octopus." The attack on Monrovia, which was already overpopulated, brought death to thousands of people.
In November 1992, five innocent American nuns of the "Precious Blood Order," were brutally murdered. On November 19, 1992, the Security Council of the United Nations passed "Resolution 788," which placed an embargo on all arms to Liberia, except those that were intended for the peace keeping forces of ECOMOG. Trevor Gordon-Somers was appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (STSG) to Liberia
On June 6, 1993, 600 innocent civilians were massacred in Harbel, Firestone. The United Nations launched an investigation, and later determined that members of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) were responsible for the massacre. Later that year hundreds of innocent civilians were beheaded. Reports by international refugee organizations and the United Nations, estimated, that over 200,000 people had been killed in the civil war, and over 700,000 Liberians were refugees in the following countries:(227,500 in Ivory Coast; 324,000 in Guinea; 125,000 in Sierra Leone; and 6,000 were in Ghana, Gambia, and Mali.
In July 1993, a series of peace initiatives were launched. These included the "Geneva Peace Conference" which was held under the auspices of ECOWAS, the OAU, and the UN; and the Cotonou Accord, which was held in Cotonou, Benin. On July 1, 1993, the rebel leaders and IGNU (Interim Government of National Unity) signed the Cotonou Peace Agreement. Under this agreement, the rebel leaders and IGNU agreed to constitute a new interim government, which would be called, the "Liberia National Transitional Government (LNTG)". A cease-fire was consummated, and rebels agreed to the encampment and demobilization of their forces. They also agreed to the scheduling of elections. Those that signed the Cotonou Accord included: IGNU, NPFL, and ULIMO.
In September 1993, another rebel group was organized under the auspices of the Armed Forces of Liberia. It was called the "Liberian Peace Council," and was lead by Dr. G.E. Saigbe Boley, Sr., a former official in the Doe Administration. According to Amnesty International, this group was responsible for killings and torture of hundreds of innocent civilians in Grand Bassa County and other regions in southeastern Liberia.
In September, 1993, the Security Council of the United Nations passed "Resolution 866" which created "United Nations Observer Mission In Liberia," UNOMIL. The UN mission had a force of 651 persons, including 303 Military observers, 20 military medical personnel, 45 military Engineers, 58 UN volunteers, 89 international civilians, and 136 local civilians staff.
In September, 1993, the Akosombo Accord was signed by NPFL, ULIMO-K, and AFL (Armed Forces of Liberia.) This agreement augmented the Cotonou Accord, but was opposed by civilian groups in Monrovia because the accord granted too much executive powers to the NPFL, ULIMO and the AFL. During this same month, there was a further breakup of the NPFL, when Tom Woewiyu, who served as Defense Minister in the government of the NPFL, and Sam Dokie (he was murdered after the 1997 election) formed the Central Revolutionary Council (CRC_NPFL) another rebel group. An attempt to overthrow the LNTG , was staged by Charles Julu, but the putsch was crushed by ECOMOG.
In November 1993 the "Lofa Defense Force" which was sponsored by the NPFL, was organized in Lofa County. This rebel group was led by Francois Masaquoi. According to Amnesty International, this rebel group was responsible for the torture and murder of over 80 innocent civilians in Lofa County.
On December 21, 1994, another agreement was signed by the rebel groups. It was called, "Accra Acceptance and Accession Agreement and Accra Clarification." This accord incorporated other rebel groups not included in Akosombo Agreement. To allay the fears of civilians groups, Chief Tamba Taylor, an indigenous leader from northern Liberia, was selected to represent the civilians. The new signatories of this agreement included: Lofa Defense Force; Liberia Peace Council; Central Revolutionary Council; and ULIMO-J. Roosevelt Johnson signed for ULIMO-J; Francois Masaquoi signed for LDF; Dr. Saigbe Boley, Sr. signed for LPC; Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, signed for NPFL-CRC; and J.D. Bayogar Junius signed for Liberia National Conference, (LNC)
In 1995, a "Rapid Response Unit" (RRU) was constituted by the interim government to fight the high incidence of armed robbery and murders which had permeated the city of Monrovia. According to the U.S. State Department, RRP became corrupted, when it was infiltrated by the NPFL.
On August 26, 1995, an all-party talk was held in Nigeria, which resulted in the signing of the Abuja Accord. This agreement, established a six-man Council of State to run the country until a national election was held. The Council included two noncombatants: Wilton Sankawulo, Chairman of the Council; and Chief Tamba Taylor, Vice-chairman. The other members of the council, who were all Vice-Chairmen, included: Charles Taylor, of the NPFL; Alhaji G.V. Kromah of ULIMO-K; Roosevelt Johnson, of ULIMO-J; Oscar J. Quiah of the LNC; and George Boley of the Coalition. Those who signed the Abuja Accord included: Charles Taylor, NPFL; Alhaji G.V. Kromah, ULIMO-K; Roosevelt Johnson, ULIMO-J; Dr. G.E. Saigbe Boley, Sr. LPC; Francois Massaquoi, (LDF) ; J. Hezekiah Brown, AFL; NPFL-CRC, was represented by Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, and Chea Cheapoo represented LNC.
Roosevelt Johnson was one of the most ruthless rebel leaders of the war.When the fighting deteriorated, the United States began removing Americans and foreign nationals out of Liberia. Lockheed C5A Galaxy transport aircraft were waiting in Freetown, Sierra Leone; and a flotilla of five ships armed with 1,800 marines were waiting off the coast of Monrovia. Navy Seals and Green Berets were sent to the American Embassy; and A-130 attack helicopters, and Sikorsky MH-53 helicopters removed over 450 Americans and 1,300 foreign residents to freedom in Sierra Leone, where Lockheed C5A Galaxy transport planes took them Dakar, Senegal.
Hundreds of thousands of Liberians were not so lucky. On May 5, 1996, about 3,000 Liberians paid $75.00 per person, and boarded the "Bulk Challenge," a leaky Nigerian owned vessel, which promised to carry them to safety in Ivory Coast. When the Bulk challenge arrived in San Pedro, Ivory Coast, the authorities there refused to allow the vessel to enter its harbor. After international humanitarian organizations appealed to Ivorian authorities, the women and the children were removed from the vessel;however, the captain was told that Ivory Coast already had too many refugees and could no longer accommodate additional Liberian refugees. The Bulk Challenge proceeded to Takoradi, Ghana were the Ghanian Coast Guard fired warning shots at the bow of the vessel, in an attempt to make the vessel go away. Ghana also had a large Liberian refugees community, and therefore refused to take in anymore Liberians. On May 12, after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and foreign governments intervened and offered the Ghanian Government assistance in accommodating the refugees, they were allowed to land in Ghana.
Another vessel called "Victory Reefer," also left Monrovia and tried to disembark its refugees in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leonean Government accepted its citizens, but refused to take in 150 Liberian refugees.
Young Liberian rebels on patrol in the streets of Monrovia in May 1996, during heated fighting in the city between ULIMO-J and fighters loyal to NPFL and ULIMO.(picture: courtesy of AP)
Back in Liberia, over 3,000 people perish in the fighting and almost every business establishment was destroyed. Automobiles and other assets that belonged to the United Nations and ECOMOG were stolen. The ECOMOG troops were reported to have also participated in the looting. Their participation in stealing and looting of the assets of Liberians became so oppressive, that some Liberians began to interpret ECOMOG as "Everything that can be moved is gone."
On August 17, 1996, after 134 days of killing and mayhem, Nigeria and other West African states brokered a cease fire between the warring factions. While Monrovia, the nation's capital, the last haven in the country lay in utter devastation, the war lords signed another peace accord, which was called "Supplement to the Abuja Accord." Within this accord, Mrs. Ruth Perry replaced Mr. Wilton Sankawolo as Chairperson of the Council of State. Those who signed this agreement included: Charles Ghankay Taylor of NPFL; Alhaji G.V. Kromah of ULIMO; Dr. G.E. Saigbe Boley Sr of LPC; Lt. General Hezekiah Bowen of the AFL; Major General Roosevelt Johnson of ULIMO-J; Francois Massaquoi of LDF; Juncontee Thomas Woewiyu of NPFL-CRC; and Chea Cheapoo of the Liberia National Conference. Those who signed as witnessed of the document included Nigeria, Ghana; Organization of African Unity; and the United Nations. The document essential reaffirmed the Abuja Accord.
In July, 1996, the last rebel group was formed. It was called, the "Congo Defense Force." This rebel group represented the ethnic group commonly referred to as Americo-Liberians.
On September 3, 1996, Ruth Sando Perry, a Liberian lady, assumed leadership of the Council of State of the"Liberian National Transitional Government (LNTG).
In 1997, the Liberian civil war finally came to an end, when general elections were held. Charles Taylor's National Democratic Party, reportedly won 75 percent of the vote; he was subsequently inaugurated President of Liberia. Although the international observers to the election reported that the election was fair; the political opposition indicated that the election was conducted under intimidation, and was essentially rigged.
One of the reasons that motivated the warlords to reject an early transition to normalcy, was their exploitation of Liberia's natural resources. According to a testimony given by Acting Assistant Secretary of State, William H. Twaddell, to the United States Congress, on June 26, 1996, the "warlords [were] wantonly exploiting their country's resources to keep themselves and their ragtag forces in weapons with virtual impunity, and in some cases complicity." The primary sources of revenue for these warlords were Liberia's diamonds, timber, rubber, gold, and iron ore. From 1990 to 1993, Secretary Twaddell reported that the warlords stole, approximately $422 million in the country's resources, and sold them to the following countries: diamonds were sold in Belgium; timbers were sold in France and Malaysia; and the other resources were sold to other European countries. Arms were then purchased in Europe, and transported to Liberia through the following countries: Charles Taylor and his NPFL transported theirs arms through Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast; Alahaji Kromah and his ULIMO-K transported their arms through Guinea; and ULIMO-J reportedly received its arms from Nigeria.
One of the tragic consequences of the Liberian-Civil war was the use of children to fight the war. This picture shows "child soldiers" with AK-47 rifles retrieving one of their wounded fighters during the outbreak of fighting between ULIMO-J and NPFL forces in 1996.[picture courtesy of AP]
Huband, Mark. THE LIBERIAN CIVIL WAR, London.Portland, Frank Cass Publishers, 1998.-----
This is an explosive and intriguing account of the Liberian civil war, written by Mark Husband, correspondent of the Financial Times. The book covers the NPFL, the largest and most influential-rebel group of the Liberian civil war; and tells of Libyan, Bukina Fao, Guinean, Ivorain, and American Government role and influence in the civil war.
The website of the publisher is at:
Huband, Mark. "The Liberian Civil War."
Bolton, Bill. "Just Keep on Walking: An African Odyssey" Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 1996.----This book is the personal account of a white American who was stationed in Liberia as an agricultural specialist assigned to USAID. He was in Liberia when the 1980 coup took place; he married a Liberian; and started a pig farm along the St. Paul River. In 1990, he was in Liberian when the rebels arrived in the suburbs of Monrovia; he struggled to maintain and keep his pig farm; and documented some of the most horrific acts of the civil war.
A day in the life of an indigenous-Liberian village.
History & Government of the Liberian people.
Home Page
{Note: The home page is the consolidated site of all the pages. It is displayed in frames, and is best seen with Microsoft Explorer 3.0 and above}
Experiences of Liberians Studying and Working Overseas
The AMISTAD slave rebellion: The Liberian connection.
THE ANTELOPE: US Supreme Court sends 120 African slaves to Liberia".
AIDS/HIV: THE LIBERIAN EXPERIENCE.
1998 US State Department Report on Liberia
Current News from Liberia, presented by "STAR RADIO." STAR RADIO is an independent radio station in Liberia, which is managed by Swiss NGO Foundation Hirondelle, and financed by the United States Agency for International Development, through the International Foundation for Elections Systems. The station began transmitting news since July 15, 1997 on FM 104 MHz in English, Liberian English, French, Bassa, Dey, Gbande, Gola, Grebo, Lorma, Kissi, Kpelle, Khran, Kru, Manndingo, Mano, and Vai.
British Broadcasting Service:--Focus on Africa.
Amnesty International: Documents on the Liberian -Civil War
Embassy of Liberia, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Cuttington University College.
Liberian Connection.
Ijoma Fokpah Flemister's Liberia Webspace