Liberia was Africa's oldest independent republic founded by freed American slaves in 1847 and enjoyed relative stability for well over a century. It was once one of the region's more prosperous states thanks to its rubber and iron ore production.

Liberia became synonymous with brutality during 14 years of civil war which ended in 2003 after claiming around 250,000 lives, creating hundreds of thousands of refugees and spawning a generation of trigger-happy child soldiers.

Its 3.4 million people scrape by on an average income of US$130 per year and can expect to live an average of 47 years, according to World Bank statistics. The country has been without mains electricity or running water for more than a decade.

Liberia is home to one of the biggest UN peacekeeping forces in the world numbering 15,000 soldiers which has helped disarm more than 95,000 fighters. But disarmament has not yet reached all parts of the country.

Recent chronology

1989 - Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) begins an uprising against the government of President Samuel Doe, who came to power in a coup in 1980.

1990 - Peacekeeping troops of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervene in Liberia. Doe is gruesomely executed by an NPFL splinter group.

1997 - After several years of chaotic, stop-go fighting, Taylor wins a presidential election. Two years later, the last members of the West African peacekeeping force depart.

July 2000 - Government reports first attacks by rebels who it says are backed by Guinea. They identify themselves as Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).

2003 - Rebels close in on Monrovia; a new rebel force, Movement for Democracy in Liberia (Model), emerges. Taylor is indicted by a UN-backed war crimes court for his alleged role in fuelling Sierra Leone's civil war.

June 2003 - Warring factions sign a ceasefire accord leading to negotiations to form a transition government without Taylor. In July, Taylor, under US pressure to quit, accepts an offer of asylum from Nigeria.

August 2003 - Nigerian soldiers reach Liberia as part of latest African peacekeeping force, soon to be followed by UN force. Government and rebels sign peace deal setting up new transitional administration to prepare for elections in 2005.

October 2003 - Gyude Bryant becomes interim leader with a mission to rebuild after years of war.

April 2004 - Rebel fighters hand in weapons under UN-backed disarmament scheme.

October 11, 2005 - Parliamentary election and first round of presidential election. Weah wins, but must contest run-off against second-placed Johnson-Sirleaf.

November 8 - Second round presidential runoff between Weah and Johnson-Sirleaf.

(China Daily 11/09/2005 page7)