The Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), which has engaged the Liberian government forces in an intermittent war in order to unseat the Taylor regime, has welcomed the mediation efforts of the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia. In a letter addressed to the President of the Inter-Religious Council, Archbishop Michael Francis, LURD wrote;

Dear Archbishop Francis,

Having consulted the membership of the National Executive Council (NEC) and the Officers of the Military High Command of LURD, we are most pleased to inform you and the Officials of the Inter- Religious Council of Liberia that we consent in holding the preparatory meeting with the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia regarding the ongoing political-military situation in the country.

However, given our distrust of the involvement of some ECOWAS states and their Secretariat in dealing adequately with the Liberian predicament, we find it very difficult to hold meeting in any West African state.

We therefore, suggest that in order for us to honor your request to engage us into a discussion aimed at resolving the Liberian conflict peacefully, as we ourselves deemed necessary, we want to suggest the following countries in which such meeting could be held since you people can not come to our headquarters (Voinjama) as requested by us in our initial communication.

1.Geneva, Switzerland
2.Pretoria, South Africa , and
3.Washington, DC, United States of America

Our reasons for selecting these countries are based on the fact that your Council suggested that we (LURD and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia) meet on a neutral ground or we choose any one of three countries for said meeting. On our part, we have serious security concerns in ECOWAS states that can not be compromised in any way, form or shape.

Thank you very much for the efforts and concern in attempting to restore peace and security to our country and people. We hope to hear from you very soon.

Kind regard.

Sincerely yours,

S. Damate Conneh, Jr.
National Chairman
LURD