Liberia

Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa with a population of 3.8 million and capital city of Monrovia. Fighting in the country has gone on since 1980 with around 250,000 dead, leaving the country in poverty and overrun with weapons. The United Nations now has 15,000 peacekeeping troops in the country and former leader Charles Taylor is being tried for war crimes in The Hague.

Media

The BBC says of the country's media:

Years of civil war left Liberia's broadcasters and publishers with the task of repairing damage caused by fighting and looting and the need to find resources to pay staff. The state-run broadcaster has no television service and operates a single radio service. The station does not have national coverage.

Community radio stations are on the air, some of them supported by international agencies.

Leaders

• Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President, Africa's first elected woman head of state

US Ambassadors

• Linda Thomas-Greenfield
• Donald E. Booth
• John Blaney who departed Liberia on July 13, 2005
• William L. Swing (1981-5)
• Peter Jon de Vos
• James Keough Bishop
• Edward J. Perkins

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Association of Liberian Journalists
• Conflict Diamonds
• Failed state
• Gus Kouwenhoven
• Justice and Peace Commission
• Kleptocracy
• Liberia National Law Enforcement Association
• Liberia Watch for Human Rights
• Liberian Institute of Journalism
• Press Union of Liberia
• Talking Drum Studio
• Transitional Justice Working Group
• American-Liberian United Minerals
• Freedom Gold
• Mano Rivers Resources
• Building Recovery and Reform through Democratic Governance
• Edward W. Scott, Jr.

External articles

• Ledgerhood Rennie, "Liberia: A year of slow progress", BBC, January 16, 2007.

External resources

• "Taylor-made: The Pivotal Role of Liberia’s Forests and Flag of Convenience in Regional Conflict", Global Witness, September 2001.
• Kenneth R. Shakedown, "Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson" (Washington DC: Regnery Publishing, 2002). (Critical information on Jesse Jackson)
• Ezekiel Pajibo, "Liberia: Ending the Horror", Foreign Policy in Focus, July 15, 2003.
• Robin Philpot, "History Doesn't Repeat Itself, It Stutters! The US and Liberia", Counterpunch, July 19, 2003.
• Annon, "Timber, Taylor, Soldier, Spy", Global Witness, June 15, 2005.
• Max Blumenthal, "Pat Robertson's Katrina Cash", The Nation, September 7, 2005.
• Ezekiel Pajibo and Emira Woods, "AFRICOM: Wrong for Liberia, Disastrous for Africa", Foreign Policy in Focus, July 26, 2007.
• Timeline: Liberia, BBC, accessed February 2008.
• Liberia, National Geographic, accessed February 2008.