Church calls off nationwide strike

The Liberian Catholic church on Tuesday called off a strike sparked by verbal attacks against Archbishop Michael Francis, diplomatic sources in the capital, Monrovia, said. The strike paralysed schools and health centres nationwide, the sources said. It started on Friday and was called off after a meeting between church leaders and President Charles Taylor, the BBC reported. The BBC quoted Reverend Pelessant Harris, secretary-general of the Liberian Council of Churches, as saying that Taylor had promised to resolve the dispute between the church and state officials that sparked the protest. The dispute followed an investigation launched by the archbishop last week into the deaths of five North American nuns 10 years ago. At the time, the archbishop and the United States had accused fighters loyal to Taylor of carrying out the killings. Following the launch of the investigation, an official accused the archbishop, a well-known critic of the government's human rights record, of immorality. The official, a member of the governing National Patriotic Party, said the Bishop had been involved in the killing of the nuns, the sources said. The government said the allegations were personal. However, the Council of Churches disagreed. "The malicious attack on the renowned bishop is tantamount to attacking the body of Christ which is the Church," a statement from the council had said. On Monday, the government issued a statement urging the church leaders to "call off the protest in the interest of education and the health of the Liberian people". The Education Minister, Evelyn Kandakai, was quoted by news organisations as saying the strike was "unfortunate".