The New DEAL Movement, Liberia's social democratic party, strongly condemns the LURD, MODEL and Charles Taylor forces, the for the recent wave of fighting and the terror of death unleashed on the innocent and armless people of Liberia. The fighting has resulted in the death of more than 1000 civilians, while several others are wounded and displaced. At this hour when delegates at the Accra Peace Talks are working assiduously towards reaching a workable agreement for peace and stability in Liberia, there is no justifiable reasons for these trigger-happy gun-men to unleash yet another round of suffering and death on the people of Liberia. This recent wave of attack on the Capitol, Monrovia, by the LURD and the terror of MODEL in the Buchanan area is a blatant violation of the June 17, 2003 cease fire agreement signed in Accra, Ghana.

The New DEAL Movement and the suffering Liberian people are concerned about the continuous delay of deploying the ECOWAS Military Interventionist Force to Liberia (ECOMIL) to enforce and keep the peace in our war-thorn country. This unprecedented delay is definitely a contributing factor in the current escalation of violence, whereby the two rebel groups and the Taylor forces are embedded with the misconception that gaining more territorial grounds will automatically give them stronger negotiating power at the Accra Peace Talk.

When LURD launched its attack on the country, the New DEAL Movement was the first and only political party to condemn LURD, its ill-fated agenda and cruel military strategy of attacking the innocent civilian population. We argued that LURD's strategy of going to war against a politically unpopular, but constitutionally seated Charles Taylor was simply illogical and lacked any sensible justification. Back then, others could not understand why the New DEAL Movement was opposed to Taylor, while at the same time condemning LURD. Today, it has become clearer that LURD has an undemocratic agenda that is no different from that of Taylor's. That is why we opted for democratic elections as a safe and civil means of unseating the Taylor regime. On the other hand, MODEL, whose objective is to re-install the Samuel Doe era is also no different from LURD. The attack of MODEL on the unarmed people of Liberia, internally displaced in the Port City of Buchanan is cruel and unacceptable. LURD and MODEL have sufficiently exposed their true image and agenda; LURD and MODEL must stop these killings.

To date, not one statistic has emerged on causality from any of the three groups (Taylor forces, LURD, and MODEL rebel). All reports points to nearly a 1000 or more civilian deaths. The question remains as to whom then are they fighting for and who will they rule after their war machines have depleted the population? They definitely seek to be ruler of skeletons. That is why the New DEAL calls on those hidden-hands that are supporting MODEL and the already known LURD advocates to immediately stop the killing of the Liberian people. Certainly, they stand guilty of atrocities against humanity and will not be spare future War Crime indictment that the New DEAL and others are calling for.

What is surprising is the continuous ambiguity of the United States Government in actively participating in the peace-keeping efforts in Liberia. Liberians are finding it difficult to comprehend as to why the US will chose to sit on the picket fence of the Atlantic Ocean in Monrovia, while watching the theater of deaths in action in Monrovia. Ordinary Liberians in and out of the country have demonstrated their desire to see the US leading an intervention force in Liberia so as to stop the carnage and begin the democratic process. But, the US government has ignored all international cries and further trashed the US-Liberian relationship to the dustbin of history. Against this backdrop, the New DEAL Movement has launched a diplomatic campaign, appealing to countries of the European Community (namely, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Austria, and Germany), Canada, China, India, Cuba and the countries of the International Contact Group on Liberia to contribute troops to the International Interventionist Force that will work along with ECOMIL to enforce and keep the peace in Liberia, while the US battle ship conduct its Atlantic Oceanic Vacation in the Liberians waters near Monrovia.

The New DEAL Movement, Liberia's social democratic party, once again reiterates its condemnation of LURD, MODEL, and the Charles Taylor government forces for the senseless killings of civilians and call on all sides to immediately halt the fighting in the interest of peace and stability. We also call on neighbouring countries to stop supplying arms and mercenaries to the Liberian civil war theater. The New DEAL bows to ECOWAS leaders and urge that they act with rapidity in deploying the interventionist force by the end of the week, as the Liberian crisis have now reached an unimaginable dimension. The New DEAL and the people of Liberia want peace, stability, and democracy in Liberia and tranquility in the Sub-region.

ISSUED BY DIRECTIVES OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE NEW DEAL MOVEMENT OF LIBRIA, JULY 28, 2003

Dougbeh C. Nyan
Vice Chairman for International Affairs
The New DEAL Movement of Liberia

International contact:
Tel. 301-972-3570
E-mail: NewDealMovement@aol.com
metrodc@newdealmovement.com

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