Archbishop Michael Francis

Is Archbishop Francis the New Target of Charles Taylor?
Over the weekend, Charles Taylor's station Kiss FM radio announced that there was a secret meeting held at the residence of Archbishop Michael K. Francis. According to the radio station, which is owned by Mr. Taylor and has become the mouthpiece of the Taylor regime, the meeting had a two pronged objectives. First, it is alleged that some opposition members are trying to make Dr. Amos Sawyer an interim president. Second, the Kiss broadcast further indicated that some opposition members including the Archbishop are allegedly planning to create chaos in Monrovia, once Taylor leaves for Bamako. The broadcast did not give names of individuals who supposedly attended the meeting in question.

West African Arms Trafficking And Mercenary Activities Supported By The Liberian Government And Logging Companies
A new Global Witness report launched today exposes the Liberian government's violent destabilisation of West Africa, through its support of mercenaries in Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone and through its regular import of weapons in violation of UN sanctions. The report, titled, 'The Usual Suspects: Liberia's Weapons and Mercenaries in Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone', outlines the threat posed by Liberia to international peace and security.

Blair Told US Must Give Aid Role to UN (Guardian)
Tony Blair will today be warned by MPs that a postwar Iraq run by the US military could result in a backlash around the world. Backbench MPs on the international development committee have expressed alarm at the Pentagon's plans to sideline United Nations experts and put US companies in charge of rebuilding. In a letter to Mr Blair, they back his drive to put the UN in the lead role.

Wounded British Soldiers Condemn US 'Cowboy' Pilot (Guardian)
British soldiers injured when a US "tankbuster" aircraft attacked their convoy, killing one of their comrades, hit out angrily at the "cowboy" pilot today. Troops wounded in Friday's attack accused the A-10 Thunderbolt pilot of "incompetence and negligence" while others privately called for a manslaughter prosecution.

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Opposition Political Parties Call for Re-Structuring of the Elections Commission, Surprise Over the Appointment of Mary Brownell and James Chelley to the Commission
The Free Democratic Party (FDP), Liberia Action Party (LAP), Liberian Unification Party (LUP), Liberian people's Party (LPP), and Unity Party (UP) hereby inform partisans, supporters and the Liberian people on recent developments relative to the Re-structuring of the Elections Commission as follows:

Liberian Rebels Pushed Back from Capital
MONROVIA (Reuters) - Troops loyal to Liberian President Charles Taylor have pushed back rebels from the outskirts of the capital Monrovia but are still battling on three fronts, officials said on Friday.

Liberia Breaks Arms Embargo (BBC)
Liberian President Charles Taylor has disclosed that his country is importing weapons in defiance of a United Nations ban. Mr Taylor said Liberia needed the weapons to defend itself against the rebels - and he said the UN had been duly notified.

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France Urged To Break Links With Taylor And His Accomplices
A French Association which monitors Franco-Africa cooperation policy ''Survie'' (Survival) Tuesday in Paris urged the French authorities to dissociate itself from Liberian President Charles Taylor and his accomplices warning that Paris can no longer continue to use intolerable double language on matters of peace and democracy while at the same time have links with war merchants.

FIDH Denounces Crackdown on Antiwar Demonstrators in Egypt and Reported Torture During Detention
Paris, 26 March 2003 - The FIDH condemns the violent assault, arrest and reported torture of demonstrators which occurred in Egypt following the demonstrations against the war in Iraq, since Tuesday, March 20, in Tahrir Square of dowtown Cairo, Al-Azhr University, Cairo University, and at the Bar Association. Hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting against the war and the situation in the Occupied Palestinian territories were violently dispersed and arrested by the police.

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It is not an Issue of Sovereignty; it is a Matter of Future Peace, Security and Prosperity for Liberians
Recent media reports inform us that the Liberian President, Charles Taylor, has vowed that he will not permit the United Nations to conduct elections in Liberia because it is a sovereign country. Liberia's sovereignty is not at issue, it is the matter of peace, security and prosperity for Liberia, which the country has not known for a generation, that is driving the requests that President Taylor asks the United Nations to conduct the next Liberian elections.

TAYLOR AND US
In October last year, I wrote here that a friend who worked for an international elections NGO invited me to lunch and told me that "they" were looking for ways to get elections going in Liberia because the democratic process must be sustained. And my friend said there would be elections in Liberia, with or without the participation of Liberians. My friend said "they" had already made contacts with some members of the opposition and all that was left was an "acceptance" from some Liberians in the US.

Rebels close in on Monrovia (BBC)
Reports from Liberia say rebels advanced to within 10 kilometres (seven miles) of the capital, Monrovia, this week. A BBC correspondent in the city, Jonathan Paye-Layleh, said the government had reported a rebel attack on the town of Ricks Institute, killing several people, but troops had since regained control of the area.

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The Sad Story of Liberian politics
The current political situation in Liberia is history making. As the clock ticks downward to Charles Taylor's October elections, the political stage in Liberia is again making history with our deep-throat political gurus back home on their knees for the sake of bread and prostituting their political parties and selling themselves for money. As poverty, disease and hunger rage on like a prairie fire in the Liberian society and the daily combat and battle for survival in a hostile economic environment, there is no truth to see and say.

Liberians Wish US Would Liberate Them Too (Times of India)
TOTOTA, Liberia: Clustered around cheap transistor radios, thousands of hungry Liberians who have fled into yet another camp from the latest fighting between government and rebel forces devour war news from Iraq and wonder if American troops will one day liberate them from their misery.

Discourse on Truth in Pragmatics: The Effects of Miscommunication in Liberian Politics
For those who may not be familiar with the history of language and modern philosophy, pragmatics, has become a separate field of linguistics and the philosophy of language, exercising the minds of philosophers and linguists alike, since Austin's 1955 Harvard lectures (first published in 1962) in which he laid the groundwork for what would become speech act theory. Austin's theoretical preoccupation in these lectures was to construct dialogue systems that would give accounts of aspects of meaning in which coherent sequences of verbal interactions would become apparent.

Quit Bashing Senator Brumskine
Sometime last year the Liberian propaganda website allaboutliberia.com carried an emotionally charged opinion piece by Mr. Willis D. Knuckles, Jr. In that piece, Mr. Knuckles expressed dismay that the former Senator Charles Brumskine was being "unrealistic" for attempting to solve the "present crisis our country faces from an air-conditioned law office in Washington, D.C."

Critics Say Rumsfeld Plan Ignored Obvious Pitfalls (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
WASHINGTON -- Five days into the war, the optimistic assumptions of the Pentagon's civilian war planners have yet to be realized, the risks of the campaign are becoming increasingly apparent and some current and retired military officials are warning there may be a mismatch between Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's strategy and the force he has sent to carry it out.

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Liberians Asked to Rally to the Defense of Jailed Human Rights Defender Aloysius Toe
The Kplio Association USA, Inc. has been following with serious concerns the gruesome detention of Aloysius Toe, a kinsman and compatriot who was arrested on November 4, 2002 and is being detained without trial. Indeed, we are deeply concerned that Mr. Toe, a passionate defender of the rights of all Liberians and an indomitable freedom fighter, is languishing in Taylor's den, while the nation is dead silent.

Archbishop Francis

MOJA Celebrates 30th Anniversary, Archbishop Michael Francis Honored
On March 21, 2003, the 30th anniversary of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) was celebrated at the Library of LDRC in Monrovia. Dignitaries present at the program included U. S. Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr. Thomas White, the E. U. Resident Representative, Mr. Geoffrey Rudd, the ambassadors of Nigeria and Ghana along with other respectable Liberian personalities. The event was used to honor His Grace, Archbishop Michael Kpala Francis.

Did LURD's Forces Attack Toe Town?
On March 17, 2003, The Perspective carried an article about the murder of three aid workers of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Toe Town, which was at the time allegedly attacked by forces of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). In the article, The Perspective wrote: "Since the brutal killing of the aid workers, not a single word has come LURD on the Toe Town attack. Did LURD attack Toe Town and kill the ADRA aid workers and innocent civilians in the town? And if so, why?"

Iraqi Officials Emerge, Bolstered By U.S. Setbacks -Official Says Troops Trapped in 'Swamp' (Washington Post)
After days of preparing Baghdad to brace for a last stand, President Saddam Hussein's government emerged emboldened today and asserted that its carefully laid plans to create a quagmire for U.S. forces were succeeding.

Saddam Defiant as Bombs Continue (Guardian)
A bullish Saddam Hussein pledged victory over the "enemies of God" this morning, as coalition troops bombarded military bases in northern Iraq and said that they had taken out some of his elite squadrons.

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Liberia Rebels Control Major Town (BBC)
Rebels fighting to overthrow the government of Liberia have entered the central town of Gbarnga, a one-time headquarters of the now defunct rebel movement of President Charles Taylor.
When the Liberians United for Democracy and Development (Lurd) rebels went into the town on Friday morning they met with little resistance.

Ten Year Residency Clause Examined by LUP's Legal Team
The Constitution of Liberia, although adopted in 1984, became effective January 1996. The Constitution contains 97 Articles. Samuel K. Doe was inaugurated, as the twenty-first President of Liberia, along with his Vice President on the third Monday of January 1986. Prior to the expiration of the term to which he was elected, President Doe was assassinated in September 1990. His assassination was the direct result of a war levied against the Republic of Liberia by the National Patriotic Forces of Liberia (NPFL), headed by our current President, Charles Taylor.

Violence Mars Global Anti-War Demonstrations - 120,000 take to streets in Berlin San Francisco arrests top 1,000 (Reuters)
LONDON - Anti-war demonstrators staged huge marches across the world yesterday, often clashing with police as they converged on heavily guarded U.S. embassies.Violence erupted at protests in Egypt, Spain, India, Belgium, Switzerland and Lebanon as police used water cannon or batons to disperse thousands of protesters.

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Protests Flare Across Globe as U.S. Strikes Iraq (Washington Post)
A wave of anti-war protests began to roll across Europe and the Middle East on Thursday after the opening salvos of the war against Iraq sparked angry demonstrations in Asia and Australia.

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LURD Denies Abducted Nurses' Claims
On March 17, 2003, this paper carried an article about the murder of three aid workers of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Toe Town, a town that was said to be attacked by forces of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) at the time of the murder. The article posed some questions: "Since the brutal killing of the aid workers, not a single word has come LURD on the Toe Town attack. Did LURD attack Toe Town and kill the ADRA aid workers and innocent civilians in the town? And if so, why?" As an example of atrocities committed by LURD against civilians the article also cited Human Rights Watch's recent report which detailed atrocities administered by LURD against five nurses of the group known as MERCI . The nurses were allegedly abducted by LURD last year.

Liberian Rebels, Troops Battle for Control of Eastern Town (VOA)
Liberian rebels and government forces are waging fierce battles for control of the eastern town of Gbarnga. There are reports the rebels may have seized the strategic Saint Paul bridge near Gbarnga.

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Senator Brumskine's Absolute Right to Travel
The Government of Liberia acted properly within its authority when it retained possession of the diplomatic passport that former President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate, Charles W. Brumskine, submitted for an Exit Visa. It is unclear what the nature of the problem is with the other passport the former senator subsequently submitted for an Exit h was also confiscated. However, both the argument proffered by supporters of Senator Brumskine that since the use of diplomatic passports is a courtesy extended former legislators from "Tubman time," that Senator Brumskine ought to be allowed to continue to use it, and the suggestion by the Liberian Information Minister that Senator Brumskine somehow committed a crime by using the diplomatic passport, are ridiculous, and have no basis in reason or law

National African Association Needed to Reverse Theft of Public Wealth and the Impending Death of Africa
It is a pity that Africa, a continent so vastly endowed with naturaleftsources, is today the poorest continent on the face of the earth. Poverty, the HIV/AIDS virus, rampant corruption, nepotism, and other forms of illnesses have become omnipresent in Africa. These vices have prompted some Africans, particularly those from the southern state of Zambia, to assert that it is better to contract the Aids virus today and die within a few years, rather than live eternally in poverty and squalor. Nowadays, everything, like, the African economy, political and judicial systems, etc...

The Saga of Taylor versus Brumskine
In politically chaotic Liberia, the dictator President, Charles McArthur Taylor is sending a clear but unspoken message to his onetime buddy, wannabe president Charles Walker Brumskine, and to all Liberian presidential hopefuls: don't mess with Taylor on his home turf where he calls the plays. Brumskine, lets hope, is getting that message loud and clear, which is being delivered to him through unconstitutional political roadblocks erected by Taylor's foot soldiers in the various government ministries.

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The Cold Bloody Murder of Kaare Lund, Emmanuel Sharpolu and Musa Kieta
The recent threat from the Bush government and the European Union to withhold further aid to Liberia is yet another repercussion of the type of regime that we have in Monrovia, together with a bunch of opportunists whose actions have given Mr. Taylor every reason he uses as justification to continue his terror against Liberian people. The press release from the US and EU in which they indicated their intentions was prompted by the cold bloody murder of Kaare Lund, a Norwegian worker of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and two Liberian ADRA workers, Emmanuel Sharpolu and Musa Kieta recently in Toe Town.

Civilians Flee Key Central Town (IRIN)
MONROVIA, - An exodus of civilians from the central Liberian town of Gbarnga, 150 km north of the capital, Monrovia, began on Sunday as clashes intensified in nearby Gbalatua between government forces and Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels.

Grand Gedeh Association Condemns Killing of Aid Workers
The Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas strongly condemns the attack on Toe Town, a border town in Grand Gedeh County which, prior to the recent attack, was refuge to more than ten thousand Ivorian and other West Africans fleeing fighting in neighboring Ivory Coast. We condemn the killing of the relief workers and other civilians as a result of this cruel incident.

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Rebel Chief Faces War Crimes Court in Sierra Leone (Reuters)
Rebel leader Foday Sankoh, his head slumped on his chest, right leg shaking constantly and gray hair twisted into dreadlocks, was wheeled before a war crimes court in Sierra Leone on Saturday.

The Last Time I Talked To Mohammed Komara
Now that Journalist Hassan Bility is released from jail and forced into exile, have we gone back to sleep, forgetting that other prisoners are still being held and we are not getting any info as to when they will be released? Is it the time to feel relaxed and go back to our usual coolness, as if to say everything is just fine?

Government Plots to "Solve The Brumskine Problem" - Statement Issued by Friends of Brumskine
The wave of orchestrations against the peaceful political activities of Cllr. Charles Walker Brumskine appears to be reaching a dramatic height, as we have gathered from corroborated sources that plans are afoot to link him to something of the nature of the "Flanzanmaton Situation of 1985," when political leaders at the time were linked to an assassinate attempt on President Doe, and subsequent incarcerated.

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A Symposium On African Governance, Philosophical Thought & Rule Of Law
The symposium on "African Governance, Philosophical Thought & Rule of Law," will examine the political, economic, religious and social justice systems, as well as the governmental structures and philosophy of traditional African society, with emphasis on the Bassa model of governance. Rule of law and social justice as defined and practiced in traditional African societies will also be emphasized.

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Liberian Aid Deaths Probe Urged (BBC)
A Norwegian and two Liberian employees of a United States-based aid agency were killed after being caught in a rebel ambush near the south-eastern town of Toe earlier this month.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Strongly Condemns Killing of Humanitarian Workers in Liberia (UN)
The Secretary-General strongly condemns the killing of Emmanuel Sharpulo, and Musa Kita, Liberian nationals, and Kaare Lund, a Norwegian national,three humanitarian workers of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), who were brutally killed in eastern Liberia on 28 February 2003.

Dr. Ritchard M'Bayo

"Liberia is Engaged in Child Soldiering and Soldiers of Fortune"
One of the Liberian government's most enterprising commodities is 'Soldiers of Fortune,' says a pro- democracy activist, Dr. Ritchard M'Bayo. He says Liberia's Soldiers of Fortune are not just veterans of wars in West Africa but are presently actively engaged in other countries on the African continent.

Liberians Find Body of Missing Norwegian (Newsday)
MONROVIA, Liberia -- The body of a 53-year-old Norwegian aid worker who had been missing for more than a week was found near his burned out truck in Liberia's rebellion-torn eastern borderlands, officials

Surprise at Sierra Leone arrests (BBC)
Sierra Leoneans have welcomed the speed with which the United Nations war crimes tribunal has indicted a senior government politician and two former rebel leaders.
Those detained are the Sierra Leone Minister of Internal Affairs, Sam Hinga Norman, and former rebel leaders Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon of the Revolutionary United Front.

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Our Indifference - The Case Of Aloysius Toe, Et.Al
For anyone who has been unfortunate to spend some time (any time) in the hands of Charles Taylor's heartless security forces, the experience is very painful, excruciating and traumatizing, among other terms that could be used adequately to describe it. The methods that are used to subdue or silence the lawless regime's supposed critics are said to be so gruesome and severe that they often leave permanent mental as well as physical scars on the victims - something that's grossly inhumane by any standard!

The International Contact Group on Liberia held its second working session at UN Headquarters in New York Held on 28 February 2003
Representatives of Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, United States of America, African Union, European Union, ECOWAS Secretariat and the United Nations attended. The meeting was co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana, Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, and the Special Representative of the Presidency of the European Union to the Mano River Union countries, Mr. Hans Dahlgren.

Will LURD, Opposition and Taylor Meet In Bamako Today?
There are no indications that the meeting slated to be held today in Bamako, the capital of Mali, will take place. Some government sources say that the Taylor regime is it not ready for the meeting, while others within the Liberian opposition see the reactivation of exit visa is a major handicap to their desire to attend the meeting.

Entrepreneurial Spirit Brings Africans Here (AJC)
The shelves of the Tropical Market in Lawrenceville are lined with fufu flour, dried shrimp and other items African immigrants consume.

Rebels, French clash in Ivory Coast (Reuters)
UESSABO, Ivory Coast -- French troops repulsed attacks by swarms of rebels in western Ivory Coast yesterday, only hours after the warring factions signed a deal in Ghana to try to end more than five months of civil war.