U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
                                      
                   BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
             OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
                                      
                        LIBERIA - Complex Emergency

 Fact Sheet # 22                     May 23, 1996 1700 EDT

Background:  On April 6, 1996, fighting in Monrovia erupted
between two armed factions, Charles Taylor's National Patriotic
Front of Liberia (NPFL) and Roosevelt Johnson's wing of the
United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia
(ULIMO-Krahn).  Other Krahn factions subsequently joined Johnson.

The fighting came in the wake of skirmishes that followed the
signing of the Abuja Accord, a comprehensive peace agreement
among leaders of the main warring factions, on August 19, 1995. 
The accord came after nearly six years of civil war, in which
more than 150,000 Liberians died, about 740,000 fled the country
as refugees, and 800,000 became internally displaced.

USAID/BHR/OFDA's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) reports
that fighting took place outside the U.S. Embassy on May 18, 20,
and 21.  USAID/DART visited the port on May 23 and discovered
that twenty-six rolls of plastic shelter material procured by
BHR/OFDA were missing.  In general, fighting and a lack of
unimpeded access, including travel restrictions at bridges and
other checkpoints, have isolated areas of Monrovia from
humanitarian relief personnel, supplies, and food.  The World
Food Program (WFP) reports that approximately 570,000 displaced
have congregated on Bushrod Island attempting to find a safe
haven in warehouses, schools, and near Economic Community of West
African States Military Observer Group (ECOMOG) installations.

Current Humanitarian Situation:  The fighting has displaced at
least 80,000 people in the Monrovia area, with 18,000 - 20,000
now seeking shelter in the Greystone compound of the U.S. Embassy
since fighting began again on April 29.  Intermittent fighting in
the Mamba Point area disrupts the daily delivery of chlorinated
drinking water to Greystone.  On May 20, USAID/DART, U.N.
agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and Liberian
officials attended a water and sanitation coordination meeting at
the U.N. Riverview compound.  Water supply to Bushrod Island is
insufficient due to a mechanical breakdown at the White Plains
water facility.  The facility only has the capacity to pump water
every other day because one of the two diesel engines in the
plant is not functioning.  The European Union has ordered another
engine, but expects delivery to take six weeks.  On May 23,
USAID/DART assessed conditions at the Greystone compound. 
Approximately 25 patients are currently being treated in the
suspected cholera unit established by Medecins Sans Frontieres
International (MSF/I) and Action Contre la Faim (ACF).   The
number of severe diarrheal disease cases admitted to the unit
continues to decrease.  Security problems in the past few days
have halted an ACF measles vaccination campaign.  From May 17 -
23, USAID/Liberia, the Liberian Red Cross, and Liberian WFP staff
distributed nearly 65 metric tons (MT) of food, a two-week
supply, to vulnerable populations in Greystone.  WFP and the U.S.
Embassy have delivered approximately 2,950 MT of food in Monrovia
and surrounding areas since April 10.

On May 13, a medical team consisting of MSF/I and MERCI, a
Liberian NGO, entered the Barclay Training Center (BTC) where
approximately 15,000 - 20,000 people took refuge when fighting
began on April 6, including armed members of ULIMO-Krahn, and the
Armed Forces of Liberia, a contending faction.  Due to security
conditions, this was the first time humanitarian organizations
had been able to assess the situation at BTC since April 22. 
Sanitary conditions are deplorable, with septic tanks broken and
sewage flowing between buildings.  A total of 18 patients were in
need of immediate surgery with three reported to be in very
critical condition.  There is also a measles outbreak.  MSF/I
staff members had hoped to begin a measles vaccination campaign
but thus far have not been able to return to the BTC due to
security problems.

Over 1,550 refugees who fled Liberia on May 5 in a Nigerian
vessel, the Bulk Challenger, disembarked at Takoradi, Ghana, on
May 13.  The U.S. Embassy in Ghana is working with the Ghanaian
government, the U. N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and
a consortium of NGOs to coordinate assistance.  USAID/OFDA
released $25,000 in emergency funds to the U.S. Embassy to
provide food, water, fuel, and shelter for the refugees.  The
State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
also pledged an additional one million dollars to UNHCR for
Liberian refugees.

U.S. Government (USG) FY 1996 Humanitarian Assistance:  
Total OFDA Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,905,083
Other USG Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$62,347,425
TOTAL USG FY 1996 Humanitarian Assistance (to date). .$66,252,508