LIBERIA: UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN TEAMS LED BY CAPTAIN ROGER COLDIRON VISIT THE VILLAGE OF TOTOE TO ASSESS THE NEEDS OF THE VILLAGE.

Record ID: 338054

  • Title: LIBERIA: UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN TEAMS LED BY CAPTAIN ROGER COLDIRON VISIT THE VILLAGE OF TOTOE TO ASSESS THE NEEDS OF THE VILLAGE.
  • Date: 8th July 2003
  • Summary: (W7) TOTOE, MONROVIA POUTSKIRTS, LIBERIA (JULY 8, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS: VEHICLE FROM HUMITARIAN ASSITANCE SURVEY TEAM VISITING VILLAGE TO ASSESS NEEDS OF VILLAGERS, CHILDREN RUNNING BEHIND. 0.04 2. VARIOUS: OF TEAM WALKING THROUGH VILLAGE WITH CROWD SHOUTING "WE WANT PEACE, NO MORE WAR" 0.16 3. VARIOUS: TEAM MEETING VILLAGERS.
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOTOE, MONROVIA OUTSKIRTS, LIBERIA
  • Country: Liberia
  • Reuters ID: LVA1NTD6EWO8SYETNIK32ZV3U4LE
  • Story Text: United States humanitarian assistance teams have
    visited the village of Totoe near Monrovia to assess the needs
    of the village.



    Earlier, gun-toting Liberian troops stopped a U.S.

    military team from reaching a refugee camp on Tuesday (July 8)
    as President George W. Bush vowed to work with the United
    Nations and Africans for peace in the country.

    Bush said he had still not decided whether to send U.S.

    peacekeepers into the West African state, founded by freed
    American slaves as a haven of liberty in the 19th century.

    Thousands of war-fatigued Liberians surged out to welcome
    the U.S. reconnaissance mission as it began work on Tuesday in
    the coastal capital, but things got off to a bad start as it
    was halted by forces loyal to Liberian President Charles
    Taylor.

    The troops stopped the convoy at the Iron Gate checkpoint
    outside the capital Monrovia as it headed for a camp housing
    thousands of refugees, saying it did not have clearance.

    The U.S. embassy said it had been assured there would be
    no further hold ups and the team resumed work in the
    afternoon, visiting displaced people sheltering at the city
    stadium.

    Liberians want U.S. peacekeepers to end years of violence
    and believe only they can win respect from a generation of
    young fighters nurtured on war and inured to atrocities.

    Cheering crowds swamped the reconnaissance convoy as it
    drove through Monrovia, rushing forward to shout "We want
    Bush" and "No more war, we want peace".

    The U.S. team is 32-strong including its Marine security
    contingent and seen as a possible precursor to a larger force.

    West African countries have pledged 3,000 troops to keep a
    peace and want U.S. forces to help them bring that up to
    6,000. But Washington well remembers a bloody withdrawal from
    Somalia 10 years ago after a humanitarian intervention went
    awry.






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