Liberia Introduction - 2004

Background:
Years of fighting, coupled with the flight of most businesses, have disrupted formal economic activity. A still unsettled domestic security situation has slowed the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country. President TAYLOR, who won the 1997 presidential elections after an eight-year-long civil war, was never able to fully eliminate rebel groups that sought to oust him by force. Rebel attacks on Monrovia, coupled with two years of UN-imposed sanctions for TAYLOR'S meddling in Sierra Leone's civil war, finally prompted TAYLOR'S abdication from power in August 2003. A transitional government - composed of rebel, government, and civil society groups - assumed control in October 2003. Chairman Gyude BRYANT, who has a two-year mandate to oversee efforts to rebuild Liberia, heads the new government.

NOTE: The information regarding Liberia on this page is re-published from the 2004 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Liberia Introduction 2004 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Liberia Introduction 2004 should be addressed to the CIA.