Liberian conference has Minnesota ties

About 500 people are gathered in the West African nation of Liberia this week to discuss the affects of county's violent recent history. Between 1979 and 2003 about half of the country's 3 million citizens fled bloody power struggles there. An estimated quarter-million people were killed during the civil unrest.

A Minnesota organization has helped lead the efforts to find out just what happened during that time. Since 2007, the Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis have interviewed more than 1,500 displaced survivors around the world -- many of them right here in Minnesota.

Ahmed Sirleaf is in charge of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Diaspora Project in Minneapolis. He is moderating parts of the conference this week in Liberia, and he joined Tom Crann by phone from the country's capital, Monrovia.

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