Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Slain nuns mourned Date: Mon, 2 Nov 92 15:45:13 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Slain nuns mourned \SH Archbishop leads prayers in Liberia \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT MONROVIA, Liberia MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - The archbishop of Monrovia led hundreds of people yesterday in praying for five slain American nuns whose bodies lay unrecovered in a battle zone four miles from the center of this besieged capital. Also yesterday, two rockets hit homes about a half-mile from an airfield, killing a mother and her 5-year-old son. Rebels loyal to Charles Taylor have been battling for control of this west African country for three years, overrunning all but Monrovia. Mr. Taylor invaded from Ivory Coast in December 1989 to overthrow President Samuel Doe, who was later captured and tortured to death by a rival rebel leader. A seven-nation West African force was sent to Liberia in 1990 to try to halt the civil war. The peacekeepers drove the rebels from Monrovia, but Mr. Taylor's fighters recently mounted another siege. The rebels now hold suburbs around the capital. Archbishop Michael Francis blamed rebels for killing the nuns, saying: "They call themselves freedom fighters, but they kill innocent people. . . . We pray for those liars." He did not specify Mr. Taylor's fighters, although he previously said Mr. Taylor's men control the area where the nuns died. The Roman Catholic prelate spoke to hundreds of people gathered in Sacred Heart Cathedral to mourn the nuns, two of whom were slain after leaving their convent to try to rescue a wounded child on Oct. 20. Three others were last seen by a parish priest on Oct. 22. Nearly two weeks later, it was still too dangerous to recover their bodies. Mr. Taylor insisted his men do not control the area around the convent. There are several armed factions in the area, including rebels opposed to Mr. Taylor. The United States had close ties with the Doe regime, giving it more than a half-billion dollars in aid, more than any other country in sub-Sahara Africa. In return, the United States had a huge Voice of America broadcasting site in Liberia. All the slain nuns were white, all were from Illinois and all were in their 50s and 60s. They were members of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ order. One of the nuns, Sister Barbara Ann Muttra, 69, of Springfield, worked as a nurse in Saigon for three years before coming to Liberia in 1971. Another, Sister Shirley Kolmer, 61, of Waterloo, was a Fulbright scholar and educator who came to Liberia in 1977. The others were identified as her cousin Sister Mary Joel Kolmer, 58, also of Waterloo; Sister Kathleen McGuire, 54, of Ridgway; and Sister Agnes Mueller, 62, of Bartelso. Archbishop Francis had been quoted as saying four Liberian novices were also killed, but he told the Associated Press later that three Liberian novices were missing and none was confirmed dead. For much of yesterday, there was a lull in the fighting. Two mortars lobbed shells into the dirt just short of the airfield near Monrovia. Dr. Ruth Tshablala of Swaziland, director of the U.N. World Health Organization here, said more than 50 civilians have died and 500 have been wounded in the two-week siege. She has organized municipal workers into burial teams to recover bodies decomposing in the suburbs. A measles epidemic has broken out, chicken pox has stricken displaced children at a compound in eastern Congo Town suburb and there are fears of a cholera epidemic, Dr. Tshablala said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM