THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604250441
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MONROVIA, LIBERIA LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
American and Liberian officials Wednesday explored ways for the United States to help underequipped West African peacekeepers keep this nation from returning to civil war.
Two weeks of fighting this month left hundreds dead in the charred and garbage-strewn capital, Monrovia. A four-man team led by William Twaddell, a deputy assistant secretary of state, discussed with the Liberians how Washington could shore up a 5-day-old truce.
The 12,000-member peacekeeping force, dominated by Nigerians, proved unable to stop hundreds of young gunmen from ransacking downtown Monrovia during the fighting.
But it was not clear just what Washington is willing to do for Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves and traditionally close to the United States.
More than 2,000 U.S. troops are stationed on four Norfolk-based ships off Liberia's Atlantic coast, but U.S. military personnel will not join in the peacekeeping, a diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The ships are the Guam, a helicopter carrier; the Trenton, an amphibious transport ship; the Conolly, a destroyer; and the Portland, a dock landing ship. by CNB