AP News, October 18th, 2007
President Bush told Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday that the United States was committed to helping relieve debt and fight malaria, and soon will send Peace Corps teams back into the African nation.
Sirleaf told the president in the Oval Office that her country has continued to make progress following elections in 2005, but still has difficult challenges.
The armed conflict in Liberia, a country founded by freed U.S. slaves in the 19th century, ended in 2003 and conditions and stability have improved. Yet, the political and economic situation continues to be fragile.
Bush said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would ask the International Monetary Fund at a meeting in Washington this weekend to help relieve Liberia's debt. "It's very important for our friends in the IMF to recognize that debt relief ... for Liberia is a part of our agenda, and I would hope that they would help you," Bush told Sirleaf.
He said the Peace Corps had been in touch with the State Department and Liberian officials about sending volunteers there quickly. And he pledged to implement a U.S. initiative to help battle malaria — a "death that we can cure" — in Liberia with nets and insecticide.
"Young babies die on the continent of Africa and elsewhere needlessly — they die simply because of a mosquito bite," Bush said.
Sirleaf, who took a walk with Bush on the South Lawn after their meeting, thanked the U.S. government for its assistance in getting debt relief, improving education and repairing infrastructure.
She also thanked Bush for granting an 18-month extension of the stays of thousands of Liberians living in the United States under temporary protected status. Because of the civil strife, Liberians have been living in the United States for nearly two decades. About 3,600 Liberians are living in the U.S. under temporary protected status, federal officials have said, although activists claim there are thousands more.
"We were very pleased, Mr. President, that you granted the delayed enforced departure for some of our citizens who couldn't go back home because we weren't prepared to receive them with the jobs and the homes and the basic services they needed," Sirleaf said. "So the 18-month reprieve you've given them gives them time to prepare themselves, and enable us to prepare to receive them at some point."
