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Marines, Aid Workers Arrive in Liberia

Aired July 07, 2003 - 12:59   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Marines are on the ground right now in Liberia. About 15 of them bounded off helicopters today at the U.S. embassy in Monrovia. They're there to add muscle to an assessment team ordered to case the situation and report back to President Bush. If Mr. Bush says go, military sources say 2,000 Marines could head to the troubled country from ships off currently Djibouti about two weeks away.
CNN's Jeff Koinange is in Liberia now. He joins us live to bring us up to date live on the situation there. Hello, Jeff.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Miles. And that is correct. Three helicopter loads of Marines and military experts landed just a little to my left here on this helicopter pad.

Now, as you mentioned, 16 of them are Marines and the rest are military experts in the following fields -- water purification, preventive medicine, construction and logistics. Miles, they've gone in for debriefing and they are literally going to hit the ground running as of Tuesday.

What are they hear for? Well for instance, just imagine for a moment, 100,000 displaced Liberians who have been fleeing fighting from the countryside now in the capital Monrovia. Right now they're living in deplorable conditions. In abandoned buildings, in abandoned schools, at the local national stadium. And you can just imagine, right now is the rainy season. It rains one full day and then the sun comes out just like today.

In a tropical place like, this every disease under the sun exists. We're talking cholera, measles, malaria, it could go on and on. And this assessment team is going to come and see for themselves how bad it is. How quickly to send for help and what quantity of help.

At the same time, Miles, I can tell you President Taylor, despite the fact that he reiterated once again that he is going to leave the country and has accepted safe haven in Nigeria, was today acting extremely presidential. He met with his ruling party to decide the way forward. Who are they going to pick as their standard flag bearer? And are they going to take part in the upcoming transitional government which will be formed sometime in the coming weeks, in the coming months?

So again, he is still acting very presidential. He did insist as soon as peacekeepers are on the ground, he will leave the scene, he will head to Nigeria. But peacekeepers aren't on the ground yet. It's just assessors right now. As soon as those keepers do arrive, then Mr. Taylor's bluff will have been called and it will be time for him to leave town --Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jeff, give us a sense of scale here. You talk about 100,000 refugees perhaps in Monrovia. Two thousand U.S. troops. That does not sound like a big force. Will that be enough to try to sort out situation and alleviate their problems there?

KOINANGE: I tell you what, Miles. It's a good start and they will be supplemented by about 3,000 more from the region. The Economic Community Of West African States, or ECOWAS, they are also going to send a peacekeeping force of about 3,000. So total, we're talking about 5,000-plus. Those are more than enough to, A: secure the city, provide much needed aid, and hopefully help bring Liberians back to where they were before.

That's what they want. A bit of normalcy. To be able to walk the streets without any problem, without hassle from militias, from rebels. And also to get that much-needed aid, food, water, sanitation, hygiene, the works. Those are very important, Miles. Hopefully this week can be a start.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jeff Koinange. Thanks very much. Live from Monrovia.

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 July 7, 2003 - 12:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Marines are on the ground right now in Liberia. About 15 of them bounded off helicopters today at the U.S. embassy in Monrovia. They're there to add muscle to an assessment team ordered to case the situation and report back to President Bush. If Mr. Bush says go, military sources say 2,000 Marines could head to the troubled country from ships off currently Djibouti about two weeks away.
CNN's Jeff Koinange is in Liberia now. He joins us live to bring us up to date live on the situation there. Hello, Jeff.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Miles. And that is correct. Three helicopter loads of Marines and military experts landed just a little to my left here on this helicopter pad.

Now, as you mentioned, 16 of them are Marines and the rest are military experts in the following fields -- water purification, preventive medicine, construction and logistics. Miles, they've gone in for debriefing and they are literally going to hit the ground running as of Tuesday.

What are they hear for? Well for instance, just imagine for a moment, 100,000 displaced Liberians who have been fleeing fighting from the countryside now in the capital Monrovia. Right now they're living in deplorable conditions. In abandoned buildings, in abandoned schools, at the local national stadium. And you can just imagine, right now is the rainy season. It rains one full day and then the sun comes out just like today.

In a tropical place like, this every disease under the sun exists. We're talking cholera, measles, malaria, it could go on and on. And this assessment team is going to come and see for themselves how bad it is. How quickly to send for help and what quantity of help.

At the same time, Miles, I can tell you President Taylor, despite the fact that he reiterated once again that he is going to leave the country and has accepted safe haven in Nigeria, was today acting extremely presidential. He met with his ruling party to decide the way forward. Who are they going to pick as their standard flag bearer? And are they going to take part in the upcoming transitional government which will be formed sometime in the coming weeks, in the coming months?

So again, he is still acting very presidential. He did insist as soon as peacekeepers are on the ground, he will leave the scene, he will head to Nigeria. But peacekeepers aren't on the ground yet. It's just assessors right now. As soon as those keepers do arrive, then Mr. Taylor's bluff will have been called and it will be time for him to leave town --Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jeff, give us a sense of scale here. You talk about 100,000 refugees perhaps in Monrovia. Two thousand U.S. troops. That does not sound like a big force. Will that be enough to try to sort out situation and alleviate their problems there?

KOINANGE: I tell you what, Miles. It's a good start and they will be supplemented by about 3,000 more from the region. The Economic Community Of West African States, or ECOWAS, they are also going to send a peacekeeping force of about 3,000. So total, we're talking about 5,000-plus. Those are more than enough to, A: secure the city, provide much needed aid, and hopefully help bring Liberians back to where they were before.

That's what they want. A bit of normalcy. To be able to walk the streets without any problem, without hassle from militias, from rebels. And also to get that much-needed aid, food, water, sanitation, hygiene, the works. Those are very important, Miles. Hopefully this week can be a start.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jeff Koinange. Thanks very much. Live from Monrovia.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com