U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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

                     LIBERIA - Complex Emergency

 Fact Sheet # 8                        April 22, 1996 1800 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 scattered skirmishes that
followed the signing of the Abuja Accord, a comprehensive peace
agreement among leaders of the main warring factions in Liberia
on August 19, 1995.  The accord came after nearly six years of
civil war, in which more than 150,000 Liberians died, about
725,000 fled the country as refugees, and 800,000 became
internally displaced.

As a result of a cease-fire agreement brokered April 19 by the
Ghanaian envoy Captain Kojo Tshikata, troops from the Economic
Community of West African States' Military Observer Group
(ECOMOG) have begun to re-deploy throughout Monrovia.  Although
the city seems to be calmer, sporadic looting and gunfire
continue. Since, April 20 over 200 foreign national hostages have
been released from the Barclay Training Center (BTC), where
approximately 15,000 - 20,000 people have taken refuge since
April 6.  The BTC houses armed members of ULIMO-Krahn, and the
Armed Forces of Liberia, a contending faction, in addition to
Nigerian, Ghanaian, Sierra Leonian, and Liberian hostages.  All
are besieged by NPFL fighters.  

A U.S. diplomatic team led by Ambassador William Twaddell left
for Monrovia on April 20 to urge the faction leaders to implement
an effective ceasefire, end the siege at the BTC, allow the free
flow of humanitarian assistance and abide by the principles of
the Abuja Accord.  The team is also prepared to discuss
additional assistance to ECOMOG, such as equipment and training,
if ECOMOG can demonstrate a renewed capacity to play a neutral
and effective role.

Current Humanitarian Situation:  The fighting has displaced at
least 80,000 people, with 7,000 - 15,000 seeking shelter in the
Greystone compound of the U.S. Embassy.  USAID/BHR/OFDA's
Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) reported today that a
total of 4,671 displaced were treated at Greystone by the
Liberian Red Cross from April 8 - April 19.  Of those,
approximately 1,000 were treated for bullet wounds and almost
fifty were treated for severe diarrhea.  Although twelve deaths
were reported between April 8 and April 16, no deaths have been
reported since that time and the reported number of cases of
severe diarrhea has declined. Poor overall water quality,
inadequate sanitation, and lack of medicines continue to present
the most serious problems.

The U.S. Embassy delivered 77 metric tons (MT) of food to a
displaced shelter in Monrovia and to a small enclave of displaced
in Paynesville on April 21.  World Food Program (WFP) also made
food distributions on April 17 to four displaced persons camps
and on April 19 to another displaced persons camp for a total of
approximately 391 MT of food, according to WFP, delivered in and
around Monrovia since April 10.   On April 20, the U.S. Embassy
provided the Monrovia city water system with chlorine and
delivered fuel to the White Plains water pumping facility which
provides water for part of the city of Monrovia.

Three Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)/Belgium staff and one
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)staff member have
returned to Monrovia.  Today the DART held a non-governmental
organization (NGO)coordination meeting with the World Health
Organization (WHO), MSF/Belgium, and ICRC.  According to the
United Nations Department for Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA),
MSF/Belgium and ICRC will provide two ambulances and four
mini-buses for basic ambulance service and transport of health
workers.  WHO organized a medical team which entered the BTC on
April 19 to assess the needs of the wounded.

U.S. Government (USG) FY 1996 Humanitarian Assistance:  

Total OFDA Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,729,948
Other USG Assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . .$61,347,425

TOTAL USG FY 1996 Humanitarian Assistance (to date). .$65,077,373