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- ╟ WORLD, Page 67World NotesLIBERIATruce Under Pressure
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- After nine months and more than 5,000 deaths, the civil war
- in Liberia sputters on. The U.S. had hoped the capture of
- President Samuel Doe by insurgents and his death two weeks ago
- would immediately lead to negotiations among rival rebels
- Prince Yormie Johnson and Charles Taylor, the remnants of Doe's
- loyal soldiers, and troops from a five-nation West African
- peacekeeping force.
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- Visiting the area last week, U.S. Assistant Secretary of
- State Herman Cohen told Johnson and Taylor that the U.S. would
- sever relations with Liberia unless a truce was declared.
- Taylor, head of the 10,000-member National Patriotic Front of
- Liberia, took the hint and announced a unilateral cease-fire.
- But the prospect for fruitful negotiations remains dim: Taylor
- declared that his "government" was the only legitimate one and
- that he would "fight any attempt to install another one." The
- truce should at least afford some breathing space for the
- five-nation West African contingent, which has suffered from
- a confused chain of command.
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