replaced after elections are held under a West African-brokered
peace plan; rival rebel factions led by Prince Y. JOHNSON and Charles
TAYLOR are challenging the Sawyer government's legitimacy while
observing a tenuous cease fire; the former president, Gen. Dr. Samuel
Kanyon DOE, was ousted and killed on 9 September 1990 in a coup led by
Prince Y. JOHNSON

_#_Political parties and leaders:
National Democratic Party of Liberia (NDPL), Augustus CAINE, chairman;
Liberian Action Party (LAP), Emmanuel KOROMAH, chairman;
Unity Party (UP), Carlos SMITH, chairman;
United People's Party (UPP), Gabriel Baccus MATTHEWS, chairman

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

_#_Elections:

President--last held on 15 October 1985 (next to be held NA);
results--Gen. Dr. Samuel Kanyon DOE (NDPL) 50.9%, Jackson DOE (LAP)
26.4%, other 22.7%; note--President Doe was killed by rebel forces
on 9 September 1990;

Senate--last held on 15 October 1985 (next to be held NA);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(26 total) NDPL 21, LAP 3, UP 1, LUP 1;

House of Representatives--last held on 15 October 1985 (next
to be held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(64 total) NDPL 51, LAP 8, UP 3, LUP 2

_#_Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Eugenia A.
WORDSWORTH-STEVENSON; Chancery at 5201 16th Street NW, Washington DC
20011; telephone (202) 723-0437 through 0440; there is a Liberian
Consulate General in New York;

US--Ambassador Peter J. de VOS; Embassy at 111 United Nations
Drive, Monrovia (mailing address is P. O. Box 98, Monrovia, or APO New
York 09155); telephone [231] 222991 through 222994

_#_Flag: 11 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom)
alternating with white; there is a white five-pointed star on a blue
square in the upper hoist-side corner; the design was based on the US
flag

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Civil war during 1990 destroyed much of Liberia's
economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. Expatriate
businessmen fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them.
Many will not return. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources,
forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a
producer and exporter of basic products, while local manufacturi