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DATE=8/11/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LIBERIA/GUINEA ATTACK (L)
NUMBER=2-252699
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Liberian President Charles Taylor says 
unidentified insurgents have invaded the West African 
nation from neighboring Guinea and have taken control 
of several areas along the border.  Liberia is still 
recovering from eight years of civil war that began 
with a similar invasion of rebels led by Mr. Taylor a 
decade ago.  Correspondent Nick Simeone has details.  
TEXT:  President Taylor is declaring a state of 
emergency in a northern region of Liberia where, he 
says, the nation has come under military attack by 
dissident forces from Guinea.  
// TAYLOR ACT //
As commander-in-chief of the armed forces of 
Liberia, I have ordered the full mobilization of 
troops with the appropriate logistical support, 
to be deployed in the Kolahun area to counter the 
invasion and restore peace and order.  
// END ACT //
It is still not clear who these invaders are and how 
much of a threat they may be to the government in 
Monrovia.
Diplomatic sources say they believe there has been 
some sort of dissident activity in the border region. 
But at this point -- with hard facts from the remote 
area difficult to obtain -- whether this actually was 
an invasion or just a movement of people across a 
porous border is impossible to determine. 
It was Charles Taylor's former National Patriotic 
Front rebel movement that began Liberia's slide into 
civil war a decade ago when its fighters invaded the 
country from neighboring Ivory Coast.  In the years 
that followed, the country became a horror chamber, 
with rebel factions multiplying in number and fighting 
each other over land and leadership of the country 
founded by freed American slaves.  Thousands of 
Nigerian-led peace keeping troops - as well as 
countless rounds of regional diplomacy -- all failed 
to end the fighting which killed some 200-thousand 
people, the vast majority of them civilians.  
A peace accord finally took hold, leading to 
presidential elections two years ago which Charles 
Taylor won.  Since then, the Liberian leader has 
surrounded himself with extremely heavy security.  
Tensions have remained high between him and his former 
battlefield opponents, some of whom have been accused 
of plotting to overthrow the Taylor government.  
(SIGNED) 
NEB/NJS/JO  
11-Aug-1999 19:06 PM LOC (11-Aug-1999 2306 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.