U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

                  BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
            OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

                      LIBERIA - Complex Emergency

 Fact Sheet # 23                        May 28, 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 the situation remains calm in the Mamba Point area.  Markets
are functioning again and pedestrians are seen in the streets.
Since April 29, fighting, looting, and travel restrictions at
bridges and other checkpoints isolated areas of Monrovia from
humanitarian relief personnel, supplies, and food.  Thousands of
displaced 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 displaced at least
80,000 people in the Monrovia area, with 18,000 - 20,000 seeking
shelter in the U.S. Embassy's Greystone compound since fighting
began again on April 29.  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 ordered another
engine, but expects delivery to take six weeks.  From May 17 -
23, USAID/Liberia, the Liberian Red Cross, and Liberian World
Food Program (WFP) staff distributed nearly 65 metric tons (MT)
of food, a two-week supply, to vulnerable populations in
Greystone.  From May 21 - 23, WFP delivered 615 MT of food to
nearly 60,000 beneficiaries in displaced shelters and orphanages
in Monrovia.  WFP is planning food-for-work programs to clean up
the city of Monrovia.  WFP and the U.S. Embassy have delivered
approximately 3,565 MT of food in Monrovia and surrounding areas
since April 10.  USAID/DART attended a U.N. coordination meeting
at the U.N. Riverview Compound on May 28.  USAID/DART team leader
Tom Dolan will be leaving Monrovia on May 29, returning to
USAID/OFDA Washington for de-briefings the week of June 3. 
USAID/DART has achieved its objectives of assisting U.S.
Ambassador to Liberia, William Milam, in management of the
humanitarian emergency in Monrovia, in particular, the U.S.
Embassy's Greystone compound.

On May 13, a medical team consisting of Medecins Sans Frontieres
International (MSF/I) staff and members of 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 poor 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.  They plan to make another attempt on May 28.

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 $1 million 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