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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release April 30, 1996

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

U.S. Condemns Renewed Fighting in Liberia

The United States strongly condemns the current outbreak of fighting in Monrovia. We urge all factions to restore the cease-fire immediately, withdraw their fighters and weapons from Monrovia, return the capital to its status as a safehaven for the city's one million civilian inhabitants and negotiate a lasting peace in Liberia.

The Liberian people desperately want peace. It is the faction leaders who have chosen to pursue their political objectives through violent means, regardless of the suffering they are inflicting on the Liberian people. The U.S. reiterates its call upon all factions to refrain from any further attacks on the Barclay Training Center and other areas of the capital. In addition, we encourage ECOMOG to continue deploying throughout Monrovia and ensure the establishment of an effective buffer zone around the Barclay Training Center.

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs George Moose is in Monrovia today to reiterate our strong message to the Liberian faction leaders: any leader who comes to power in Liberia by force or by illegal means will be politically and economically isolated. The U.S. will work to ostracize such a government from the international community.

At the same time, the U.S. remains prepared to provide political and economic assistance to any legitimately elected, democratic government of Liberia. It is time the factions leader brought the suffering to an end and returned Liberia to its people.

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