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Major Events in Liberian History
By The Associated Press
July 1, 2003, 6:08 PM EDT
Key events in Liberian history beginning with independence in the 19th
century:
* 1847: Country gains independence; draws up U.S. type constitution.
* 1926: Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. opens plantation; rubber becomes
the
backbone of the economy.
* 1943: William Tubman is elected president; promotes foreign investment
and
local participation in government.
* 1971: Tubman dies and William Tolbert Jr. succeeds him.
* 1981: President William Tolbert Jr. is assassinated in a coup led by
Master Sgt. Samuel Doe, who suspends the constitution.
* 1984: Under pressure from the United States, Doe allows return of
political parties.
* 1985: Doe is elected president.
* 1989: National Patriotic Front of Liberia, led by Charles Taylor,
begins an uprising against the Doe government.
* 1990: Doe is executed by an offshoot of Taylor's movement.
* 1995: Economic Community of West African States brokers a peace treaty
between two warring movements.
* 1997: Taylor is elected president.
* 1999: Britain and the United States threaten to suspend aid after
Liberia is accused of supporting militants in neighboring Sierra Leone.
* September 2000: Liberian forces launch offensive against rebels in the
country's north.
* March 2001: United Nations imposes arms embargo to punish Taylor for
trading weapons for diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone.
* November 2001: Government forces start new offensive against rebels.
* January 2002: More than 50,000 Liberia and Sierra Leone refugees flee.
-2003
* April: New rebel group, Movement for Democracy in Liberia, makes gains
in southeast.
* June 4: Taylor is indicted for war crimes committed during his
involvement in Sierra Leone civil war.
* June 6: Rebels clash with government forces outside Liberian capital
Monrovia; refugee camps fall into rebel hands.
* June 17: Taylor says he will step down under a cease-fire agreement.
* June 20: Taylor renounces his peace pledge to cede power in Liberia,
announcing he will serve to the January 2004 end of his term -- and
might run again.
* June 23: The main rebel group in Liberia -- Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy -- says it's pulling out of peace talks.
* June 27: Taylor's forces claimed to have driven rebels out of
Liberia's capital after a four-day artillery battle that killed
hundreds.
* June 28: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan asks the Security Council
for an international peace force for Liberia.
* June 30: West African leaders ask for 2,000 American troops to head a
predominantly African force to stop the turmoil and keep the peace.
* July 1: Taylor turns down a secret deal to give him safe haven in
Nigeria, senior U.N. diplomats say. Annan steps up pressure on Bush
administration to take leading role.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
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