Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Liberia in Crisis
Aired August 19, 2003 - 06:22 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops out of Liberia by October 1, that's the word from President Bush this morning. The question is, will they leave too soon?
Let's head live to Monrovia with the latest on this and Gaven Morris -- hello, Gaven.
GAVEN MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Yes, October 1 is the deadline the White House has now put on U.S. Marines working in Liberia. But perhaps that's a great vote of confidence in this peace accord that was signed yesterday in nearby Accra in Ghana.
Now, this peace accord basically will bring in an interim government to rule Liberia for two years, from October, replacing the government of Moses Blah, who was sworn in just a week ago after Charles Taylor left.
Now, essentially free elections will be held in two years. But until then, this interim government will rule without the MODEL or LURD rebels or the current government serving in key positions.
So the U.S. has responded just minutes after, really, this deal being announced, and saying no more need for the U.S. Marines to be on the ground here. There will be more United Nations peacekeepers coming in. There are already West African peacekeepers here. So we will pull out by October 1 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So does that mean no more U.S. Marines will be coming onshore in the interim?
MORRIS: That we don't know. They say at the moment there is no need to have any more U.S. Marines. There are up to 200 at the moment. They're doing all sorts of things here at the moment, quite visible. We see the choppers flying around all the time. We see Marines patrolling in the streets. And yesterday we saw Marines come ashore, some of the beaches, in landing craft.
Now, they tell us that was to basically survey the waterways and survey the beaches, make sure they're all safe for any contingency plans that might need to be had. But there is no indication that they need any more. And, in fact, all the indications are that as soon as they can, they will start scaling down rather than scaling up -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And so far there's been no major violence against U.S. troops in Liberia?
MORRIS: None at all, Carol. We've heard no incidents of any sort of violence against U.S. Marines. And the local people here, the Liberians said that that is always how it would be. This would not be another Somalia, where U.S. troops and Marines were targeted, but it really would be open arms for the U.S., that they would be welcomed and that they would be protected, even, by the civilians here.
So far that's been the case -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Gaven Morris reporting live from Monrovia, Liberia this morning.
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 19, 2003 - 06:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops out of Liberia by October 1, that's the word from President Bush this morning. The question is, will they leave too soon?
Let's head live to Monrovia with the latest on this and Gaven Morris -- hello, Gaven.
GAVEN MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Yes, October 1 is the deadline the White House has now put on U.S. Marines working in Liberia. But perhaps that's a great vote of confidence in this peace accord that was signed yesterday in nearby Accra in Ghana.
Now, this peace accord basically will bring in an interim government to rule Liberia for two years, from October, replacing the government of Moses Blah, who was sworn in just a week ago after Charles Taylor left.
Now, essentially free elections will be held in two years. But until then, this interim government will rule without the MODEL or LURD rebels or the current government serving in key positions.
So the U.S. has responded just minutes after, really, this deal being announced, and saying no more need for the U.S. Marines to be on the ground here. There will be more United Nations peacekeepers coming in. There are already West African peacekeepers here. So we will pull out by October 1 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So does that mean no more U.S. Marines will be coming onshore in the interim?
MORRIS: That we don't know. They say at the moment there is no need to have any more U.S. Marines. There are up to 200 at the moment. They're doing all sorts of things here at the moment, quite visible. We see the choppers flying around all the time. We see Marines patrolling in the streets. And yesterday we saw Marines come ashore, some of the beaches, in landing craft.
Now, they tell us that was to basically survey the waterways and survey the beaches, make sure they're all safe for any contingency plans that might need to be had. But there is no indication that they need any more. And, in fact, all the indications are that as soon as they can, they will start scaling down rather than scaling up -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And so far there's been no major violence against U.S. troops in Liberia?
MORRIS: None at all, Carol. We've heard no incidents of any sort of violence against U.S. Marines. And the local people here, the Liberians said that that is always how it would be. This would not be another Somalia, where U.S. troops and Marines were targeted, but it really would be open arms for the U.S., that they would be welcomed and that they would be protected, even, by the civilians here.
So far that's been the case -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Gaven Morris reporting live from Monrovia, Liberia this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
