Christian Churches and Muslims in troubled Liberia are playing a key role in efforts to steer the West African country on the path to peace.
The Inter-Religious Council of Liberia (IRCL), formed in 1990 and comprising the Liberian Council of Churches and the National Muslim Council of Liberia, has met with both Charles Taylor and rebels calling themselves the LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy), and was able to facilitate a meeting in February 2003 between the LURD and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The first week in April 2003, 18 political parties in Liberia met with the IRCL and signed a joint resolution to call on the Government of Liberia and LURD to meet and broker a ceasefire and an end to all hostilities. The ruling National Patriotic Party also attended the meeting.
The IRCL is headed by Archbishop Michael K Francis of the Roman Catholic Church, who is the immediate past president of the Liberian Council of Churches (LCC). He is also the Archbishop of Monrovia.
The IRCL has the support of ECOWAS and the International Contact Group on Liberia and has been asked to served as a facilitator of the proposed Bamako peace conference. These groups were scheduled to meet with Liberian government officials on Tuesday (April 15) in Monrovia to discuss the modalities for peace talks - now foreseen for either Accra (Ghana), or Dakar (Senegal).
The LCC is gravely concerned at the escalation of the fighting, and the formation of new fighting groups, which will only bring more hardship to the already suffering people of Liberia, and strongly condemns these actions.
It is concerned about the current delays in the convening of Peace Talks under the auspices of ECOWAS and the International Contact Group on Liberia, and requests that a meeting be convened without further delays.
The Council supports the participation of all stakeholders at the Peace Talks, but suggests that such a meeting be carried out in two phases at the same venue, first with Government and LURD to negotiate a ceasefire; and secondly with all Stakeholders to strategize a way forward in the political process.