U.S. Signs Open Skies Aviation Agreement with Liberia

U.S. Signs Open Skies Aviation Agreement with Liberia

The United States and Liberia have signed a comprehensive Open Skies framework to expand and liberalize their bilateral civil aviation relations. U.S. Ambassador to Liberia Donald E. Booth and Director General of the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority, Richelieu A. Williams signed the agreement on February 15 at the Liberia Private Sector Investment Forum sponsored by The Corporate Council on Africa.

The agreement was reached after January 2007 talks between a Liberian delegation, led by Liberia Civil Aviation Authority Director General Richelieu Williams, and a U.S. delegation chaired by State's Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs that included officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is visiting the United States, and has met with President Bush and Secretary Rice to discuss a broad range of bilateral issues, focusing in large part on Liberia's economic development. The Open Skies agreement is one part of a substantial package of economic cooperation initiatives with Liberia announced during President Johnson-Sirleaf's visit. We are pleased to have reached this important agreement, which, as Secretary Rice remarked, "will deepen the connection between our people our businesses, and our economies."

The agreement with Liberia will significantly modernize U.S.-Liberia aviation relations by allowing airlines from the two countries to make commercial decisions with minimal government intervention. It will provide for open routes, capacity, frequencies, designations, and pricing, as well as cooperative marketing arrangements, including code-sharing.

The United States has concluded Open Skies agreements with more than 75 countries and territories.

Questions concerning this agreement may be directed to Mr. Joel Reifman, Deputy Director, Office of Aviation Negotiations, U.S. Department of State, phone: 202-647-9797.

2007/114, Released on February 16, 2007, Media Note, Office of the Spokesman, Washington, DC. February 16, 2007

Settlement of freed slaves from the US in what is today Liberia began in 1822; by 1847, the Americo-Liberians were able to establish a republic. William TUBMAN, president from 1944-71, did much to promote foreign investment and to bridge the economic, social, and political gaps between the descendents of the original settlers and the inhabitants of the interior.

In 1980, a military coup led by Samuel DOE ushered in a decade of authoritarian rule. In December 1989, Charles TAYLOR launched a rebellion against DOE's regime that led to a prolonged civil war in which DOE himself was killed. A period of relative peace in 1997 allowed for elections that brought TAYLOR to power, but major fighting resumed in 2000.

An August 2003, peace agreement ended the war and prompted the resignation of former president Charles TAYLOR, who was exiled to Nigeria. After two years of rule by a transitional government, democratic elections in late 2005 brought President Ellen JOHNSON SIRLEAF to power. The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), which maintains a strong presence throughout the country, completed a disarmament program for former combatants in late 2004, but the security situation is still volatile and the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country remains sluggish. CIA Factbook Liberia

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