Liberia: Coalition Appeals to Americans to Pressure Congress for Liberia Peace Funds

A non-partisan coalition of U.S. groups and individuals is appealing to Americans across the country to contact Congress in support of a $200 million emergency aid package for… Read more »

Liberia: 'We Need to Understand Where We Went Wrong,' says Brumskine

Liberia's transitional government has been launched and Chairman Gyude Bryant has two years to set this battered country back on its feet. A compromise candidate selected as part… Read more »

Africa: Nigeria, Still Attracted by Gold

With five new gold medals obtained this weekend, two of which were won in the men's and women's 100 meter, Nigeria has advanced a giant step in the standings of the 8th All African… Read more »

Chad: President Deby Turns On Oil Pipeline - and a Path to Riches

Landlocked, poor and underdeveloped, Chad joined Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and other leading global oil-producing countries Friday, when President Idriss Deby formally inaugurated the… Read more »

Liberia: Lift Sanctions On Liberia, Says Interim Foreign Minister

Economic sanctions could undermine the peace effort Liberian foreign minister Lewis Brown has told United Nations Secretary general Kofi Annan. "They serve no useful purpose" now,… Read more »

Liberia: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Just Doesn't Care About Liberia, Charges Congressman Payne

In an angry outburst, startling because it came from mild-mannered Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ), the New Jersey Democrat said that U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld,… Read more »

Mali: 'Japan Should Have a Security Council Seat,' Says President Toure

More than twenty African leaders gathered this week in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, for the third conference in ten years on development cooperation and partnership between Japan… Read more »

Nigeria: Economic Reform is On Course, Says Obasanjo

Nigeria may be the giant of Africa and the world's sixth biggest exporter of crude oil but news on its economy is rarely reassuring. In recent years, daily reports have lamented… Read more »

West Africa: Nigeria Will Hand Over Charles Taylor, Predicts War Crimes Prosecutor

The ambitions of the now-exiled Liberian President Charles Taylor fueled Sierra Leone's long conflict, says David Crane, the chief prosecutor of the United Nations-created Special… Read more »

Africa: Plain Speaking from Ghana's Education Minister on Future of Africa’s Academia

How to improve tertiary education in sub-Saharan Africa, and find ways to make it work, is the theme of a three-day conference being held in Accra, Ghana. Questions raised in the… Read more »

Africa: Ex-President Rawlings Challenges "Behavior" of African Men

Speaking at a Washington, D.C., dinner Friday night, former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings said a significant part of the fight against HIV/Aids in Africa required targeting… Read more »

Liberia: Coalition Advocates U.S. Support for Liberian Peace and Reconstruction

The following letter, sent to President George W. Bush on August 14, has been released by Liberia Watch, a non-partisan, diverse coalition of civil society, including NGOs, private… Read more »

Liberia: Transitional Gov't Chairman Rules Out War Crimes Tribunal

The chairman of Liberia's new transitional government has warned that there is no provision under the recently signed peace agreement for a war crimes tribunal, despite… Read more »

West Africa: Peacebuilding In Liberia: Foundational Challenges And Appropriate Approaches

With the departure of Charles Taylor, the arrival of some peacekeepers, the signing of a new peace agreement and the selection, at the Accra conference, of the leadership of a new… Read more »

West Africa: Liberia Negotiations End, Armed Factions Tap Transition Leader

After three months of talks in Accra and Akassombo, Ghana, Liberian political parties, representatives of civil society and the country's warring factions concluded negotiations… Read more »

Liberia: Gyude Bryant Named Transition Leader for Liberia

A Monrovia businessman, Gyude Bryant, has been selected to lead the transition government that will run Liberia for two years until democratic elections are held. Read more »

Liberia: Charles Ghankay Taylor, Defiant And Passionate To The End

Outgoing Liberian president, Charles Ghankay Taylor, left power and his capital Monrovia on Monday, after handing over power to his successor and vice president, Moses Blah. Read more »

West Africa: Defiant Taylor Bows Out in Liberia, Moses Blah Sworn In As Interim Successor

Charles Taylor, the former Liberian rebel leader and recently indicted war crimes suspect, stepped down as president of Liberia on Monday and handed power to his vice president,… Read more »

West Africa: Leaving Office 'To End Bloodshed' in Liberia, Taylor Accuses U.S. of Backing Rebels

In a solemn and at times passionate recorded farewell address to the Liberian people, broadcast by the international media on Sunday evening, Liberian President Charles Taylor… Read more »

West Africa: Taylor Confirms He Will Step Down In Liberia August 11

President Charles Taylor of Liberia confirmed Saturday that he would hand over power on August 11 and leave his embattled country. After almost weekly pledges dating back to June 4… Read more »

West Africa: Taylor Leaves Liberia's Capital as West African Envoys Arrive To Meet Him

West African special envoys flew into the Liberian capital of Monrovia on Friday for talks with President Charles Taylor, only to be told that he was out of town. The embattled… Read more »

West Africa: West African Troops Expected In Liberia Monday, Taylor Out By Thursday

West African leaders have announced that a first contingent of regional peacekeepers is expected in Liberia by Monday, opening the way for the departure of beleaguered President… Read more »

West Africa: Still No Sign of Peacekeepers for Liberia, Annan Presses Security Council to Act

As desperate Liberians renew their pleas for an international intervention force to step in to end the fighting that has cost hundreds of lives, haggling over the financing for… Read more »

Liberia: World Watches While We Die, Say Liberians

"All of the patients in JFK hospital in Monrovia will die this week - they have no food, no water and no medicine," says Wilson Tarpeh, a Liberian businessman and newspaper… Read more »

Nigeria: Give Us Support and We'll Do the Job in Liberia, Obasanjo Tells BBC

Hopes have been raised for a respite for the million residents of Liberia's capital Monrovia, following the announcement Tuesday of a unilateral ceasefire by Liberians United for… Read more »