For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 25, 2003
Statement on Liberia
Statement by Press Secretary
In recent days, the United States has been working intensively with
ECOWAS and the United Nations to address the situation in Liberia.
Today, the President has directed the Secretary of Defense to
position appropriate military capabilities off the coast of Liberia in
order to support the deployment of an ECOWAS force once it is
generated. The immediate task of the ECOWAS force is to reinforce a
cease-fire and begin to create conditions where humanitarian assistance
can be provided to the Liberian people. As the United States has said
before, Charles Taylor must leave.
The U.S. role will be limited in time and scope as multinational
forces under the United Nations assume the responsibility for
peacekeeping and as the United Nations arranges a political transition
in Liberia.
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