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CNN Live Sunday
More Peacekeepers Arrive in Liberia
Aired August 17, 2003 - 11:01 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: In Liberia the nation tries desperately to pull itself out of a three-year old war. More peacekeepers are arriving, and so is humanitarian aid, but not quickly enough. CNN's Jeff Koinange takes us to one place in Monrovia where the starving are still waiting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are here at the Samuel Doe Stadium, right outside the Liberian capital of Monrovia, home to over 50,000 displaced Liberians.
Now if you just look around here, these are the bleachers of the stadium. This is where people have actually made it their home, sleeping in the stands, sleeping in the bleachers, sleeping wherever they can find any kind of space; over 50,000 of them have made the stadium their home. Underneath the stadium, this is where they cook their meals. They sleep; this is where they have their new homes.
Over 50,000 of them occupying this stadium, and the conditions here are deplorable, at best. They're miserable at worst. The kids are suffering from everything from malnutrition to cholera to dysentery. This place has not seen any food distribution for more than two months. Aid workers will have their work cut out for them.
Once the aid arrives for them, there's a desperate need for them to arrive here at the stadium, to bring the relief, to bring the aid, to bring the shelter, just so they can give the people here some kind of sense of normalcy. Because it's getting worse, literally, by the hour. They are desperate. They are in need. And they want the outside world to know that they are -- they need their help more than ever.
On the political front, peace talks in Ghana have hit yet another hitch. We understand that rebels keep on demanding key positions in the new interim government West African negotiators have threatened to suspend the talks. No peace agreement expected to be signed any time this weekend. They are hopeful that sometime during the week that may happen. In the meantime Liberians here continue to suffer. Peace may be at hand, or peace may be on the horizon here in Liberia, but the tough task of rebuilding a tattered nation has only just begun.
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 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Liberia the nation tries desperately to pull itself out of a three-year old war. More peacekeepers are arriving, and so is humanitarian aid, but not quickly enough. CNN's Jeff Koinange takes us to one place in Monrovia where the starving are still waiting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are here at the Samuel Doe Stadium, right outside the Liberian capital of Monrovia, home to over 50,000 displaced Liberians.
Now if you just look around here, these are the bleachers of the stadium. This is where people have actually made it their home, sleeping in the stands, sleeping in the bleachers, sleeping wherever they can find any kind of space; over 50,000 of them have made the stadium their home. Underneath the stadium, this is where they cook their meals. They sleep; this is where they have their new homes.
Over 50,000 of them occupying this stadium, and the conditions here are deplorable, at best. They're miserable at worst. The kids are suffering from everything from malnutrition to cholera to dysentery. This place has not seen any food distribution for more than two months. Aid workers will have their work cut out for them.
Once the aid arrives for them, there's a desperate need for them to arrive here at the stadium, to bring the relief, to bring the aid, to bring the shelter, just so they can give the people here some kind of sense of normalcy. Because it's getting worse, literally, by the hour. They are desperate. They are in need. And they want the outside world to know that they are -- they need their help more than ever.
On the political front, peace talks in Ghana have hit yet another hitch. We understand that rebels keep on demanding key positions in the new interim government West African negotiators have threatened to suspend the talks. No peace agreement expected to be signed any time this weekend. They are hopeful that sometime during the week that may happen. In the meantime Liberians here continue to suffer. Peace may be at hand, or peace may be on the horizon here in Liberia, but the tough task of rebuilding a tattered nation has only just begun.
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
