World Council of Churches -
News Flash
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release:
13 June 2003
WCC calls for peace-keepers in Liberia
World Council of Churches' (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser has today sent a letter to United Nations' (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan expressing serious concern at the escalation of fighting in Liberia between government forces and the rebel group, Liberians United For Reconciliation and Democracy. Citing the "gravity of the near-anarchy situation that has developed", Raiser calls on the UN to support current peace initiatives and encourage the parties to accept a "credible peacekeeping force", with the aim of securing a lasting ceasefire.
Raiser also sent a letter to Benjamin D. Lartey, general secretary of the Liberian Council of Churches, commending his participation, on behalf of the churches', in the Liberian Peace Conference in Accra that opened on 4 June, and expressing the hope that this peace initiative "will bring an end to the fighting and to the prolonged sufferings of the people".
Full text of letter to the UN Secretary General:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/liberialet1.html
Full text of letter to the Liberian Council of Churches:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/liberialet2.html
Additional information:
Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
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