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CNN Live Sunday
Peacekeepers at Work
Aired August 17, 2003 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Jeff Koinange has more now on the peacekeeping efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the face of Africa 's new peacekeeping force. U.S. trained, U.S. equipped and U.S. backed.
And this is what they do best. Fast gaining a name for themselves as veterans of endemic African civil wars. Some say they've been effective; others insist they've done more harm than good. Whatever the case, this is the closest Africa's come to solving its internal crises.
So it came as no surprise when the call was made to deploy African peacekeepers to Liberia after LURD rebels forced their way into the capital, Monrovia, and within weeks of former President Charles Taylor's executive mansion, muscled by the Western virtually universal call for him to leave office, Mr. Taylor finally succumbed to the pressure.
THABO MBEKI, PRESIDENT, SOUTH AFRICA: An important thing has happened today. And we're all hoping that this, indeed, marks -- as president Kofore (ph) said, the end of the war in Liberia. And let them take all the necessary steps to make sure that there is, indeed, a permanent peace.
KOINANGE: The end game for Mr. Taylor came with its usual defiance and a word of warning to his fellow African colleagues.
CHARLES TAYLOR, EXILED LIBERIAN PRESIDENT: Decisions have not been made our capitals. They are being made in foreign capitals. You must be careful. Today, is Charles Taylor, the black cow is going. The red cow is waiting out there.
KOINANGE: And no sooner had Mr. Taylor relinquished his office and skipped the country, then this remarkable scene. U.S. boots on the ground in Liberia in large numbers, for the very first time. But now the tough task of restoring peace in one of Africa 's most violent countries begins in earnest.
LT. GOV. DANIEL OPANOE, U.N. MILITARY ADVISER: Time has come when we don't sit back and say somebody's going to do it for us, but we are going to do it for ourselves. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: African solutions to African problems, yes. Nobody can love Africa more than Africans. So, with them the ECOMIL on the ground, we think it is good move forward (ph).
KOINANGE: A rare sight in the streets of Monrovia, Liberians know only too well that miraculously have been pulled back from the edge of the abyss.
KOINANGE (on camera): Pulled back, but not quite out of the woods just yet. The peacekeepers know they have their work cut out for them. And they also know that world will be closely watching, watching to see if Liberia will be the case study that finally puts the continent back on the right track in a place where good news stories are few and far between.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, Monrovia, Liberia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 17, 2003 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Jeff Koinange has more now on the peacekeeping efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the face of Africa 's new peacekeeping force. U.S. trained, U.S. equipped and U.S. backed.
And this is what they do best. Fast gaining a name for themselves as veterans of endemic African civil wars. Some say they've been effective; others insist they've done more harm than good. Whatever the case, this is the closest Africa's come to solving its internal crises.
So it came as no surprise when the call was made to deploy African peacekeepers to Liberia after LURD rebels forced their way into the capital, Monrovia, and within weeks of former President Charles Taylor's executive mansion, muscled by the Western virtually universal call for him to leave office, Mr. Taylor finally succumbed to the pressure.
THABO MBEKI, PRESIDENT, SOUTH AFRICA: An important thing has happened today. And we're all hoping that this, indeed, marks -- as president Kofore (ph) said, the end of the war in Liberia. And let them take all the necessary steps to make sure that there is, indeed, a permanent peace.
KOINANGE: The end game for Mr. Taylor came with its usual defiance and a word of warning to his fellow African colleagues.
CHARLES TAYLOR, EXILED LIBERIAN PRESIDENT: Decisions have not been made our capitals. They are being made in foreign capitals. You must be careful. Today, is Charles Taylor, the black cow is going. The red cow is waiting out there.
KOINANGE: And no sooner had Mr. Taylor relinquished his office and skipped the country, then this remarkable scene. U.S. boots on the ground in Liberia in large numbers, for the very first time. But now the tough task of restoring peace in one of Africa 's most violent countries begins in earnest.
LT. GOV. DANIEL OPANOE, U.N. MILITARY ADVISER: Time has come when we don't sit back and say somebody's going to do it for us, but we are going to do it for ourselves. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: African solutions to African problems, yes. Nobody can love Africa more than Africans. So, with them the ECOMIL on the ground, we think it is good move forward (ph).
KOINANGE: A rare sight in the streets of Monrovia, Liberians know only too well that miraculously have been pulled back from the edge of the abyss.
KOINANGE (on camera): Pulled back, but not quite out of the woods just yet. The peacekeepers know they have their work cut out for them. And they also know that world will be closely watching, watching to see if Liberia will be the case study that finally puts the continent back on the right track in a place where good news stories are few and far between.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, Monrovia, Liberia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
