TITLE: U.S. intervention needed in Liberia
Release # 019 {2893} April 19, 1996
DENVER (UMNS) -- A delegate from Liberia is calling upon the 1996 United Methodist General Conference to request U.S. government intervention in that war-torn African country.
During an April 19 press conference here, Lamark J. Cox Sr., lay leader of the Liberian United Methodist Church, said that anarchy now reigns in his country.
Gangs roam the capital of Monrovia "indiscriminately killing and destroying property," he added. "Presently, there is no law or order."
In the past, according to Cox, the international community has labeled the country's six-year-old civil war as an internal matter that should be resolved by Liberians. "Because of the complexity of the problem ... that has not been possible," he said.
The attempts at peace have not succeeded because the various warring factions have been supplied with arms and money by outside groups.
Cox believes U.S. intervention is needed to deal with this situation and save trapped Liberians dying from starvation and disease.
Cox, who arrived in Denver April 18, is the only one of the 10-member Liberian delegation to make it out of the country.
He said he was packing for the meeting on April 9 when "about 15 to 20 fully-armed men moved into my yard, broke the steel gate and demanded the keys to a number of vehicles neighbors had parked in my yard."
As his family was held at gunpoint, Cox surrendered the keys and watched the group loot his house, taking the suitcases they had been packing.
He, his wife and daughter managed to get out of Monrovia the next day on a U.S. military flight and gradually made their way to the United States.
During his time at General Conference, Cox said he will "mobilize every ounce of energy to do what I possibly can" for Liberia.
-- Linda Bloom
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