Washington, DC — When Congress unexpectedly added $200 million in humanitarian assistance for Liberia to the Iraq bill adopted earlier this month, proponents hoped the action would signal a renewed U.S. commitment to Liberia that would be welcomed throughout Africa.
Already, the appropriation has strengthened U.S. efforts to convene a donors' conference for Liberia and induce other governments and international institutions to commit substantial resources to reconstruction of the war-ravaged nation.
However U.S. relations with Liberia's lead peacekeeper may be strained by Congressional initiatives that would block U.S. assistance for Nigeria to protest former Liberian President Charles Taylor's presence there as well as alleged human rights violations by the Nigerian military. Nigeria is the fifth largest supplier of petroleum to the United States and Africa's most populous country, and it supplies most of the troops for the United Nations force in Liberia.
Nigerian officials have sharply criticized the Congressional actions, and Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar reportedly expressed his government's concern about the impact on bilateral ties in a private meeting on Thursday at the State Department with Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage.
During July and August, as fighting intensified and casualties mounted in Liberia, the Bush administration's reluctance to intervene disappointed African leaders, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and major European powers. The $200 million, which was added by Congress to the administration's request for $87 billion to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was intended to demonstrate that Liberia remains an important American concern.
"We have made a commitment to Liberia, and this money will go a long way to stabilize the West African region as a whole," said Lincoln Chafee, Republican from Rhode Island, who sponsored the amendment, along with Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont. The funds "link the U.S. with African and European allies in providing economic and political resources to help stabilize West Africa," Chafee said, referring to leading roles played by Britain in neighboring Sierra Leone, France in next-door Cote d'Ivoire, and Nigeria, which led the West African operation that separated Liberia's armed belligerents. The Iraq and Afghanistan Supplemental, which was signed into law by President Bush on November 6, also included $240 million for the U.S. share of UN peacekeeping costs in Liberia.
The fact that $200 million in humanitarian assistance for Liberia was incorporated in the bill surprised many observers, especially since the administration originally sought to keep the legislation focused solely on Iraq and Afghanistan. But a loose coalition of American groups and individuals known as Liberia Watch was able to mobilize grass roots support from human rights and religious groups and Africa-interested constituencies across the country, and the coalition encouraged action by members of Congress who felt Liberia, with its longstanding American ties, should receive special consideration.
In the end, although the executive branch routinely resists earmarked funding, policymakers at the State Department welcomed the appropriation. Those funds are "significantly enhancing the American role in helping to rebuild Liberia," said one senior official. The donors' conference, tentatively scheduled for January co-hosted by the UN and the United States, "has taken on a different cast, now that we come to the table with real money," another official said.
But the Department remains firmly opposed to a proposed amendment, sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), both members of the Appropriations Committee, that would cut off direct assistance to the Nigerian government for providing political asylum to Taylor, who is currently living with an entourage of family and aides in three government villas in Calabar, a seaport city in southeastern Nigeria.
Last April, the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone announced Taylor's indictment on charges of arming rebels accused of human rights violations and atrocities against civilians during the Sierra Leone civil war. The indictment led to a stalemate in the West African-led negotiations aimed at ending Liberia's fighting, because Taylor refused to leave the country and risk arrest.
In June, as the war in Liberia intensified and the plight of civilians became increasingly desperate, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo brokered a deal that eventually brought the killing to a halt. Under heavy personal pressure from Obasanjo, Taylor resigned on August 11, after being assured of asylum in Nigeria.
"Taylor is an indicted war criminal who continues to try to destabilize the region, and he must be turned over to the special court," Leahy told the Associated Press last week. His amendment to the State Department appropriation bill now pending in Congress would bar assistance to any governments harboring persons indicted by the Sierra Leone Special Court or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Critics of the proposed sanctions cite Nigeria's contribution to peace in Liberia and the economic and political reform program launched by President Obasanjo, following his reelection in May. "This is the time we need to be rolling out support for the reform agenda," said Anthony Carroll, a former World Bank consultant on Nigeria who is a Washington attorney and a member of the Corporate Council on Africa Nigeria Working Group. "I'm no defender of Charles Taylor, but we need to remember that it was the Nigerians who created an opening for peace in Liberia."
Princeton Lyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, said Congressional concern over the question of impunity for someone like Charles Taylor is understandable, but Nigeria should not be punished for "doing something that was necessary" to end the fighting. "As long as the Nigerians keep Taylor from interfering in Liberian affairs, they are fulfilling an important service," said Lyman, senior director for African affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations. Inclusion of the Rwanda Tribunal in an amendment aimed at capturing Charles Taylor is misplaced, Lyman said, because the actions of countries harboring fugitives from Rwanda shouldn't be compared to Nigeria's role in Liberia.
In another action aimed at Nigeria, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Africa subcommittee, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, is seeking renewal of the provision he sponsored in last year's State Department appropriation, which bans U.S. assistance for military training or financing for Nigeria until the Nigerian government takes action against members of the armed forces accused of taking part in killing an estimated 200 unarmed civilians in Benue State in October 2001.
According to Human Rights Watch, the deaths were part of a "well-planned military operation, carried out in reprisal for the killing of 19 soldiers in the area two weeks earlier." Senate sources say the Nigerian government has made no movement on the issue, either to punish the soldiers involved in the incident or to indicate to concerned members of Congress a willingness to take any action.
"There is a lot of frustration with the Nigerians right now, not just on this issue and not just on the Hill," said one aide who spoke on condition of non-attribution. Some officials in both the State Department and Pentagon have grown weary of Nigeria's reluctance to pay a greater share of peacekeeping costs, the aide said, both in Liberia and in Sierra Leone during Operation Focus Relief, when the U.S. European Command equipped and trained seven battalions from West African countries to conduct peace-enforcement operations.
A judicial commission appointed to investigate the Benue killings reported to President Obasanjo in June, but the document has not been released. The president is believed to regard Congressional pressure on the issue as outside interference in Nigeria's affairs.
The Nigerian government has similarly dismissed a provision in the Iraq bill that authorizes a $2 million reward for the capture of indictees of the Sierra Leone Special Court. "Any attempt to forcefully take Taylor from Nigeria will be a violation of our territorial integrity," presidential spokeswoman Oluremi Oyo told reporters last week. "We don't expect that from a friendly nation." The measure was introduced into the Iraq bill by Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and adopted without debate.
Although security was reportedly increased at Taylor's Calabar compound after the measure won Congressional approval, the Bush administration has sought to dispel notions that a bounty hunt is underway. "We are discussing with Nigeria the best ways to bring Charles Taylor to justice in ways that respect the sovereignty and integrity of our friends in the region," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters on Friday.
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The reward money authorized by the Iraq bill "is an additional tool at our disposal to be used as it may become necessary," according to Andrew Mitchell, a spokesman for the Department's Bureau of African Affairs. "However, I would like to stress that we strongly oppose any violent or other illegal action against Nigerian authorities aimed at obtaining custody of Charles Taylor."
At the Sierra Leone Special Court, spokeswoman Allison Cooper told the Associated Press that the case for bringing Taylor to trial is compelling. "He is facing some of the most serious charges a human being can be charged with," she said.
Princeton Lyman agrees that the former warlord should face trial "eventually" and that the appropriated money could serve a purpose. "Charles Taylor should not be able to roam the world. If there is a reward for his capture should he leave Nigeria, I have no problem with that."
Anthony Carroll argues that efforts to punish Nigeria could harm vital U.S. interests. Obasanjo's efforts to reform the nation's political and economic systems "appear to be on track," but the situation remains "very fragile." The country is an energy provider of growing importance, a "bulwark against terrorism" in the region, and a crucial player in efforts to promote economic integration and growth throughout Africa, he said.
The Congressional actions, however well intentioned, can easily be misinterpreted, Carroll said, since foreign audiences often don't distinguish between what an influential member of Congress says and the policy of the U.S. government.
Last month, Nigeria's petroleum production exceeded 2.2 million barrels per day, the highest level since March 1998. New fields in deep water off shore promise greater production increases in the future.
