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Resettlement Program- It is that time Again

SUPPORT RELIEF EFFORT FOR OUR PEOPLE NVASEKIE KONNEH THANKS

THE COMMUNITY

LIMANY PREPARES FOR ELECTION
By Issa Fofana

FATUMATA SESAY SCHOLARHIP FOUNDATION

The Foundation Reacts to the Death of Brother Nvasekie's Wife


DO YOU KNOW WHAT RECONCILIATION MEANS?
By Mohammed Bility

Minnesota Mandingo Association Induction Ceremony
By Issa Fofana

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY YEAR!
Roberta Davies-Rashid (Mrs.)
NATIONAL PRESIDENT, ULAA

Why We Must Not Turn A Blind Eye
To The Ranny Jackson Question
By Saah C. N'Tow

MISINTERPRETING OUR CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
By Nvasekie Konneh

For The Record: We Need Answers
Ramses K.Nah

President Roberta Patricia Rashid And The ULAA Of Today!
Bedell Speaks!

Handing Over Taylor, "If Liberia Asks"
By Tarty Teh

And Justice for All

By Ramses K.Nah

The Liberian Mandingoes Reconciliation Conference Charter

Inaugural Message from Vamba S. FOFANA

THE EVIL THAT MEN DO LIVE AFTER THEM: THE CASE OF TAYLOR’S NOMINEES
BY MAMBU JAMES KPARGOI, II

Bridging Liberians into the 21^st Century   

By Ramses K.Nah

Watching the Time: A Message to the Rising Generation (Part I)
By Alvin J. Teage

WHY ARE WE FIGHTING?
 By Nvasekie N. Konneh

Liberia now has a glimmer of hope for its future
(A Letter to ULAA) from
Hon. Jack Klein

Place Liberia First
Speech Delivered By

Mrs. Roberta P. Davies-Rashid
ULAA

LETTER: MR. FORMER SPEAKER WHEN DID YOU COME TO REALIZE
Mambu James Kpargoi Monrovia, Liberia

The Book "Going To War For America" By Nvasekie Konneh Will Be Launched

GANTA SUPPORT GROUP MEETING April 4, 2004 12:00 Noon 116-41 Sutphin Blvd Queens, NY 11434 973-819-3790 516-852-5181

INVITES YOU TO ITS HONORING PROGRAM APRIL 17, 2004 NEWARK, NJ

The minister also called on the UN to employ qualified Liberians living in exile to help reconstruct the country. In Liberia, there are concerns about the "influx of foreigners" being used in the reconstruction effort, he said. He said the UN was already responding to these concerns.

Liberians Must Learn to Respect their Laws
ULAA Board Chairman Kesselly Warns
Lowell, Massachusetts:-"Liberia will continue to be intermittently categorized as a failed state if Liberians do not develop the acumen to respect their laws".  These were the words of the Chairman of the ULAA National Board of Directors, Mr. Anthony Kesselly, when he administered the oath of office to the new leaders of the Association of Liberians in the Merrimack Valley (ALMV), over the weekend in Lowell Massachusetts.

LIBERIA: US gives US$ 50 million for former combatants
MONROVIA, 25 Mar 2004 (IRIN) - The United States government said it has earmarked about US$ 50 million to assist former Liberian combatants and communities as part of the country's disarmament, demobilisation, rehabilitation and reintegration programme (DDRR).

LIBERIA: Security tight around university after day of violence
MONROVIA, 25 Mar 2004 (IRIN) - Police and UN peacekeeping troops took up positions around the University of Liberia in the capital Monrovia on Thursday after serious disturbances at the campus on Wednesday as students protested the university’s closure for more than one year.

Liberia's Warlord, Prince Johnson heads home on Sunday
This Day - 9 hours, 16 minutes ago Leader of the defunct Independent Patriotic Front of Liberia(INPFL) Prince Yormie Johnson, is going back to Liberia, the country he left 11 years ago.
The man who is reputed to have captured the late former Liberian President, Samuel Doe, spoke to THISDAY yesterday at his residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, saying he has been invited by Liberians, including the leader of the interim government, Gyude Bryant, to "come and be a part of the political process" of the war ravaged country. He and a team of 10 senior aides will leave on Sunday.

HON. CHARLES HNE WILSON (APRIL 25, 1948 TO MARCH 10, 2004) Departs From Us
The Wilson and Jappah families announce with profound regrets the solemn passing of Hon. Charles Hne Wilson, which sad event occurred on March 10, 2004 at the Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, New York following protracted illness.  He was a distinguished Liberian civil servant and diplomat.  His last two positions in government were Charge d’Affaires, a.i. of the Liberian Embassy in Ottawa, Canada and Consul General of Liberia in New York.

Liberian Clashes Erupt Between Rebels, Civilians
Fighting between a rebel group and civilians caused riots to spread through Liberia's port city of Buchanan over the weekend resulting in the death of at least one civilian. The commander of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, General Daniel Opande, said a civilian died Sunday morning after being severely wounded in clashes. Others are still being treated at a hospital in Buchanan.

Alarm at Liberian ritual killings
Hundreds of Liberian women have taken to the streets of teh capital, Monrovia, protesting against a recent wave of ritual killings at the capital.

Bodies of children have been found with some of their organs missing, taken for what are viewed as magical properties. The women, dressed in white, stormed the Justice Ministry demanding action against the killers.

Liberia: UN presents new list of people banned from international travel...
18 March 2004 – The United Nations Security Council, acknowledging political changes in Liberia following the departure of President Charles Taylor, has presented a new list of nearly 50 of his associates who should be confined to their own countries - fewer than half of the number previously restricted.

IMF endorses Liberia's economic recovery plan...
WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it endorsed Liberia's interim government's economic plan which projects some growth in 2004 after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Chinese peacekeepers begin Liberia mission..
MONROVIA, March 18 (Reuters) - A first batch of Chinese peacekeepers has arrived in Liberia, highlighting the new relationship between the two countries five months after Monrovia switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing.

MINISTER EMBRACED BY CONCERNED LIBERIANS AFTER TOWN HALL MEETING
Immediately after the Town Hall meeting, throng of concerned citizens and well-wishers swarmed around Finance Minister Lusinee Kamara, Sr. in the hallway and congratulated him for being endorsed as minister of the year by the Press Union of Liberia. The group applauded the chief trustee of the Liberian finance and they were elated to inform him that he deserves the commendation because they are aware of his relentless concern for the well being of the poor civil servants that were not paid in the past.

Mob Flogs Abu Donzo, A Liberian Photo Journalist
A senior photo journalist at the Ministry of Information, Abu Donzo has been reportedly flogged in the commercial town of Ganta, Nimba County by mob alleged to be former government militias. According to our Nimba County correspondent, the incident occurred Friday, March 12, following a reconciliation program attended by citizens of the county and a delegation from Monrovia.

HASSAN BILITY SPEAKS AT SETON HALL  UNIVERSITY
Liberia’s famous journalist and the Amnesty International UK’s 2003 Special Human Rights Journalism Award winner, Hassan Bility is invited to address the Amnesty International Chapter at Seton Hall University in New Jersey as a keynote speaker. Mr. Bility will be speaking as part of the programs in observance of the “Human Rights Awareness Week” which runs from March 22^nd through the 25^th.

PRESS RELEASE: Official Launching of The Book, "Going To War For America"
As a way of registering his own feeling of disapproval of this terrible crime committed in the name of a religion, Nvasekie Konneh wrote a letter, “May Allah Bless America,” copies of which he shared with his fellow shipmates and civilian employees at the Naval Inventory Control Point in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Along with this letter, Nvasekie Konneh wrote several poems expressing the same feeling. Among them are “Islam,”“9-11” and “Going To War For America,” (the title of his collection of poetry scheduled to be officially launched on April 24, 2004.

LIBERIA-SIERRA LEONE: Taylor’s lawyers file petition against special court
MONROVIA, 16 Mar 2004 (IRIN) - Lawyers representing former Liberian president Charles Taylor said they had filed a petition with the Liberian Supreme Court on Tuesday against the Ministry of Justice and the UN-backed special court in Sierra Leone, which has indicted Taylor for war crimes.

War of Words Erupts Between UN and Liberian Journalists
Although the shooting war has ended in Liberia, a new war of words has emerged between United Nations officials and Liberian journalists.

At every U.N. news conference in Liberia, it seems, officials take the opportunity to blast Liberian journalists, while journalists do the same in the opposite direction.

THANKS TO THE COMMUNITY From The Keita Family   From the echo of Mount Nimba to the historical Montserrado River, from the scare height of Wolrogesei Mountain to the great Gedeh Mountain, we, the members of the Keita family extend our thanks and appreciation to all those that participated in the holy Traditional matrimony between our beloved daughter Massa Keita and Sekou Kolleh. Had it not been your endurance and tireless efforts we won't have succeeded. For those who did not make it to Phillis, we say thank you ever so much for your words of encouragement.

Taylor team targets war court 
Monrovia - Lawyers representing former Liberian president Charles Taylor said on Sunday they had filed a suit against a war crimes court which scoured the ex-leader's home for evidence he aided rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone's brutal civil war.

My tribute to the Liberian women (By Tiawon S. Gongloe)
My tribute to the Liberian women is based on the records they have made over the years in bringing peace and sanity to Liberia. Let me give you just a gist of what they have done. CONTINUE

UN Security Council freezes assets of ex-Liberian leader -
UNITED NATIONS : The UN Security Council voted unanimously to freeze the assets of exiled former Liberian president and indicted war criminal Charles Taylor.

Taylor, who fled in August amid a rebel uprising, is accused of plundering government coffers and the vast resources of the west African state, leaving Liberia impoverished and in chaos after 14 years of almost constant war.

Liberia fighting starts again
Monrovia - Liberian rebels and former soldiers from the armed forces of ex-president Charles Taylor were fighting in the northeast of the country near the border with Ivory Coast, media reports said on Friday. The clashes broke out in the town of Tappita, in Nimba County, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers there.

Liberia team finds no signs of secret training
SANNIQUELLIE, Liberia, March 11 (Reuters) - A government team probing reports that hundreds of fighters were secretly training in northeast Liberia said on Thursday it had found no evidence so far, but that the region was awash with weapons.

WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN
Death happens all the time. It’s the other side of life we are living. It is a reality we must face as we go about our normal business. When it happens to someone we know and love, we cry for days and years. Our crying may be because we are in sympathy with the person, or may be because we are reminded of our own mortality.

Since the passing of my wife, Makemeh, I have been thinking of how to best remember her. That thought has inspired this poem, “When The Sun Goes Down,” which I have decided to share with the world so that the thought expressed in here can inspire all of us to hold on to each other so dearly. I ask that we pray together for all our people that have departed this earth. May Allah bless them and grant them Al Jannah.(THE POEM)

World Bank agrees to help Liberia's recovery
WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Wednesday it had approved $4 million in grants to help Liberia's recovery from war, in a strong signal that it was ready to assist the country again after years of isolation from the donor community.

LIBERIA: UN humanitarian coordinator complains of lack of resources
MONROVIA, - The humanitarian assistance received thus far for Liberia is not enough to cover its people’s needs and a crisis could ensue if the shortfall is not addressed before the coming rainy season, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Liberia, Abou Moussa, warned on Tuesday.

W Africa war crimes court opens
The UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone has opened its new courthouse to try people involved in one of Africa's bloodiest civil wars.

The decade-long conflict in Sierra Leone was characterised by deliberate attacks on civilians, including murder, rape, torture and mutilation.

US Seeks to Freeze Assets of Charles Taylor, Other Former Liberian Officials
The United States Friday introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution that would freeze the assets of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, his family members and close associates. Mr. Taylor is reported to have taken millions of dollars in government funds when he left Liberia for exile in Nigeria last year.

Taylor may have to face the music in Monrovia
It was not enough for Charles Taylor to plunder his own West African state of Liberia, encourage rebellion in neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire and make Guinea anxious about its own potential for revolution.

Taylor also chose to arm and train the notorious Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone, Liberia's eastern neighbour, in exchange for still-unknown amounts of "blood diamonds", fuelling a 10-year conflict that left more than 200 000 dead and thousands more with missing limbs.

Amnesty wants Taylor, bad
Amnesty International on Tuesday called on the Nigerian government to hand over former Liberian leader Charles Taylor to the UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone.

UN Wants to Try Ex-Liberia President Taylor for War Crimes
International pressure to bring former Liberian President Charles Taylor before a war-crimes court is mounting, while at the same time the United States is seeking to freeze the assets of the west-African warlord.

US pledges $35m to help train Liberian army...
The US today pledged at least $35 million to help rebuild Liberia's army as the poor country emerges from 14 years of civil war. Pamela Bridgewater, a US deputy under secretary of state for African affairs, announced the support after meeting with Gyude Bryant, Liberia's transitional leader. She did not say whether US military personnel would be in Liberia.

JOURNALIST HODGE'S PR EXPEDITION IN ULAA DISECTED
A Rebuttal (BY Anthony V. Kesselly)
The pitfalls that come with a "journalist" dabbling into partisanship are enormous. Trying to use the "credibility' (or cloak) of journalism to meticulously carry out "on-the-side" public relations tasks obviously pull such a journalist onto the quick sands of history.   Free of these kinds of entrapments, journalism can be a noble profession  A journalist would therefore refrain from passing sweeping indictments on his fellow men without first making the effort to hear their side of the story.

Taylor's homes scoured
War crimes investigators scoured ex-President Charles Taylor's residences in Liberia on Friday, seeking to buttress allegations the one-time warlord aided and directed rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone's brutal civil war.

US Seeks to Freeze Assets of Charles Taylor, Other Former Liberian Officials
The United States Friday introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution that would freeze the assets of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, his family members and close associates. Mr. Taylor is reported to have taken millions of dollars in government funds when he left Liberia for exile in Nigeria last year.

US Committed to Liberia's Full Recovery From Civil War, Official Says
A top State Department official says the United States is committed to making sure Liberia fully recovers from 14 years of civil war. The United States is complementing efforts led by the United Nations. As part of her first trip to Liberia as deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa, Pamela Bridgewater met with Liberia's transitional leader, Gyude Bryant, Friday to reinforce what she called "a steadfast partnership." She said the meeting was a follow-up to last month's U.S. government pledge of $200 million out of more than $500 million promised to Liberia at a donor conference in New York.


An Old Question Revisited: Is ULAA Relevant?
Recently while attending the donors’ conference in New York, I met and chatted with Mrs. Roberta Davies-Rashid, ULAA’s current national president. I started the conversation because I wanted to get a first-hand impression of the state of the union (in an unofficial manner, that is). Knowing that Messrs Mohamed S. Kromah and Ranney B. Jackson, Sr. had left the union to take up official assignments in the transitional government of Liberia; there was much to talk about. The president opened up to me and I was glad to listen and facilitate the conversation by asking some leading questions and making some strategic remarks, which led us into a full discussion.

Watching the Time: A Message to the Rising Generation (Part III)
As our generation takes its part in the campaign to make Liberia a better place for all, protect us, be our strength, be our eyes, and be our voice of reason. Let our generation live on the solid principles of love, peace, respect, compassion, and moderation. Let us have respect for the members of our generation, and also for the members of other generations.

Liberia probes reports of fighters grouping...
MONROVIA, March 3 (Reuters) - A Liberian government team is due in the northeast of the country this week to investigate reports that hundreds of fighters loyal to exiled president Charles Taylor are undergoing training there.

LIBERIA: Study of sexual abuse during civil war under way
DAKAR, 3 Mar 2004 (IRIN) - The United Nations and World Vision are conducting a joint survey of sexual violence committed during the last four years of Liberia’s civil war which will be submitted to the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Tuesday that 22 human rights monitors had been hired to conduct interviews with a random sampling of 4,000 Liberians about their experiences between December 1989 and August 2003 when a peace agreement was signed.

Obession With the Presidency - Wrong Focus for A New Liberia (By William G. Nyanue)
With the departure of Charles Taylor for exile in Nigeria, the signing of a peace accord to end fighting, the inauguration of an interim government, and the deployment of United Nations peace keeping troops in many parts

Fresh Nigerian troops to leave for Liberia next week: army spokesman
A fresh battalion of 776 Nigerian peacekeeping troops will replace a similar contingent in Liberia ahead of a UN-brokered disarmament exercise in the war-weary west African country, an army spokesman said Tuesday. (Moore

LIBERIA: Government probes report of military training in Nimba
MONROVIA, 1 Mar 2004 (IRIN) - A team of government officials will head for Nimba County in north central Liberia on Tuesday to investigate reports that military training activities are taking place close to the border with Cote d’Ivoire

LIBERIA: Catholic bishop says warlords should quit government
MONROVIA, 1 Mar 2004 (IRIN) - The Roman Catholic church in Liberia has said former warlords should not serve in the transitional government that is leading the country back to democracy and has urged that they should answer for atrocities before a war crimes tribunal.

LIBERIA: UNHCR starts trucking home Sierra Leone refugees
DAKAR, 1 Mar 2004 (IRIN) - The United Nations has said it will begin the repatriation of the 13,000 remaining Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia on Tuesday when a convoy of trucks carries first group to the frontier.

NVASEKIE KONNEH THANKS THE COMMUNITY
On December 28, 2003, when we were all excitedly awaiting the coming of the new year, we were hit with the sad news of the passing of our beloved wife, daughter, sister,  Makemeh D. Konneh. It was unbelievably shocking and devastating because when we talked to her a day before, there was nothing suggesting that she was nearing the end of her journey on earth.

Liberia picks woman to head FA
Monrovia - Liberian lawyer Izetta Sombo Wesley has become the first woman to head a national football association in Africa by taking over the running of her country's ruling body. Wesley is the new president of the Liberian Football Association after the resignation of Edwin Snowe at the organisation's congress in Monrovia earlier this month.

U.S. to Furnish $114M in Aid to Liberia...
President Bush said Wednesday that the United States was providing $114 million in assistance to Liberia - the first installment in $200 million pledged for reconstructing the African nation. The White House said the money will help ease the humanitarian crisis in Liberia, contribute to regional stability and eliminate conditions that could be exploited by international terrorists.

Thousands of Liberian Refugees to Resettle in U.S.
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Liberian refugees who fled a 14-year civil war in the country founded by freed American slaves will be resettled in the United States, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Monday.

Sanda Kimbimbi, the UNHCR representative in Ivory Coast, said most of the nearly 7,000 refugees had already reached the former French colony's main city of Abidjan from the west of the country and had been put up in reception centers and houses.

LIBERIA: Returning refugees stream to Monrovia but end up in camps
MONROVIA, 24 Feb 2004 (IRIN) - Nearly 3,000 registered Liberian refugees have returned from neighbouring countries spontaneously since December, but with the capital Monrovia still in ruins, most have sought shelter in camps for displaced people, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.

Liberian massacre confirmed
Monrovia - The head of a newly created human rights commission here charged Monday that militias backing exiled Liberian former president Charles Taylor massacred 369 civilians in the southeast of the country in April 2003.

Taylor supporters killed 369, report says...
MONROVIA, Liberia - (AP) -- Soldiers loyal to former Liberian President Charles Taylor massacred 369 civilians last April in three villages, accusing them of supporting rebels in the area, the country's human rights commission said Saturday.

Last Liberians head to US
Abidjan - A convoy of buses bumping its way Saturday from the southwest corner of Ivory Coast to Abidjan carried a final group of Liberians headed for the United States under a controversial UN programme to give the west African refugees a second chance.

LIBERIA: UN discontinues immediate $75 cash payment to disarmed fighters
ABIDJAN, 20 Feb 2004 (IRIN) - The United Nations peacekeeping force in Liberia said on Friday that it would no longer pay cash up front to former combatants who hand in their guns once its stalled disarmament programme resumes in March or April.

LIBERIA: UN helicopters start to patrol Liberia's borders...
MONROVIA, 18 Feb 2004 (IRIN) - Helicopter gunships attached to the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia have begun regular patrols of the country's borders to control illegal logging and other unauthorised cross-border movements, Souren Seradayrian, the deputy head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has announced.

LIBERIA: UN says no disarmament before full deployment of peacekeepers
MONROVIA, 18 Feb 2004 (IRIN) - The United Nations has said categorically that it will not resume its suspended disarmament programme in Liberia until UN peacekeeping troops are fully deployed right across the West African country.

Teachers Mount Pressure On Govt, Threaten to Lay Down Chalks
The public school system in Monrovia could face additional set backs if the plight and concerns of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) teachers are not promptly addressed.

ALHAJI VALEE KEITA AND HAJI MASSA K. KEITA RETURN FROM HAJJ
Alhaji Valee Keita and Haji Massa K. Keita, both  of Nimba County, Liberia returned from the annual Hajj pilgrimage. This special event in their lives was made possible by their son Mohammed Keita of Staten  Island. 

Alhaji Keita said humbly: "We are very  blessed by the Almighty Allah for giving us this opportunity through our son to have accomplished one of the five pillars of Islam.

DUNBAR IN, AARON OUT
The leadership squabble at the Liberian Embassy in Washington DC, which reportedly interrupted normal businesses at the Mission for a long period, has been resolved with the Liberian Foreign Minister confirming Mr. Abdullah Dumbar's appointment as Liberia’s Deputy Chief of Mission.

During a visit to the Liberian Embassy Tuesday, this writer was told by a receptionist that Mr. Aaron Kollie is no longer the head of Mission. " He is not here," she said. Before meeting her new boss, I was informed by a staff that Mr. Abdulah Dunbar was now the new boss.

Liberian Rebels Loot Rubber Plantation
MONROVIA, Liberia - Rebels in Liberia stormed and looted a rubber plantation in the southeast of the country and have begun selling off its assets, the plantation's manager said.

Joining LIMANY's team of reporters from the BUDUBURAM REFUGEE CAMP, Ghana

SHEIKH S.S. KAMARA 
The Liberians are trying hard, be proud.

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