Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwanese leave war-torn Liberia, ambassador stays

Six Taiwanese joined other foreign nationals on Monday fleeing Liberia's civil war, but Taiwan's ambassador remained to keep ties between the two countries healthy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The French-led evacuation included 535 people from 38 countries, according to France's UN mission in New York.

Among them, six were from Taiwan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Richard Shih (石瑞琦) said yesterday.

The six included the wife of Ambassador Chen Yeong-cho (陳永綽), one embassy staffer, two members of Taiwan's agricultural technical mission and two Liberia-based overseas Taiwanese, Shih said.

They were shuttled to a French warship that sailed to Ivory Coast later on Monday, Shih said.

Chen and two senior diplomats in the embassy decided to stay in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, Shih said.

A ministry official said yesterday that Chen's house had been taken over by rebel forces and he was now staying at a hotel near the US Embassy with the two other diplomats.

The official, who asked not to be named, said Chen had told him that the streets of Monrovia were quiet yesterday after troops from the Economic Community of West African States arrived.

Shih said he had sent his thanks to the French Institute in Taipei, the American Institute in Taiwan and the EU for their help with the evacuation.

John Cummings, Liberia's ambassador to Taiwan, yesterday visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a first step in seeking humanitarian aid for his country.

"My focus today was to seek help not from the government of the Republic of China, but from the humanitarian agencies here," Cummings said.

Tents, dehydrated food and blankets are the items most needed by people fleeing the fighting, Cummings said.

He said it was his responsibility to keep ties between Taiwan and Liberia "healthy" as the internal conflict unfolds in Liberia.

Since Charles Taylor -- a former warlord -- became president of Liberia in 1997, Taiwan has been a major source of help to the country, and the people of Liberia have been grateful to Taiwan, Cummings said.

"It's important to know who's coming in there now," Cummings said.

J. Laveli Supuwood, a senior member of the major rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, was once minister of justice when Cummings led the Ministry of Post and Communications, the ambassador said. The other major rebel faction is called Model.

"He is a good lawyer. I know him and he knows me well," Cummings said of Supuwood.

Cummings said he talked to a close aide of Taylor's on Monday evening and intended to speak to the president in person last night.

On Sunday, the rebel factions told Taylor to leave by today or be forced out.

But Supuwood's group later said it would give foreign-brokered peace talks a chance to avoid a bloodbath.

Taylor last week was indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed court.

Also see story:
Foreigners quit Liberian capital
This story has been viewed 1948 times.