Liberia Links Americans to Plot on Doe
Liberia’s official news agency said Sunday that two Americans have confessed that they participated in a plot to overthrow the government of President Samuel K. Doe.
The Liberian News Agency said James Bush, 40, a retired U.S. Army sergeant, and William E. Curtis, 45, made the confessions Saturday night in the presence of U.S. Embassy officials. The U.S. diplomats could not be reached for comment Sunday, and there was no immediate comment from the State Department in Washington.
Bush and Curtis are accused of participating in an abortive July 13 invasion of Liberia. Doe has said the invading force was led by his former second in command, Maj. Gen. J. Nicholas Podier Jr., and that it launched its attack from neighboring Ivory Coast.
Podier and an undisclosed number of his men were killed during a battle at the border.
Podier was one of 17 enlisted men and noncommissioned officers led by then-Master Sgt. Doe who seized control of Liberia in an April 12, 1980, coup.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
