George Klay Kieh Jr. was poised to run for president of Liberia this fall. Political ambition, however, has been replaced by concern for friends and family as intense fighting rages in the West African country.

"I am worried to death," said Kieh, an activist who chairs the political science department at Morehouse College. He has a brother and "lots of cousins" there.

"Somehow they are surviving," he said. "There's a need in the country for food, clothing and housing, and we will make an appeal to various organizations to contribute to that."

One group that's keeping its relief efforts going despite the fighting is the Lutheran World Federation, which is already attending to Kieh's concerns. The relief organization is delivering food, building shelters and managing camps for civilians seeking safety despite the evacuation of foreigners and some residents from the capital, Monrovia.

The organization's Liberian staff is "hanging in there," Jonathan Frerichs, spokesman for the relief agency, said of the situation in the besieged capital.

"The cities emptied in about an hour last week when news came of President [Charles] Taylor's [war crimes] indictment," he said. "Things have really gotten tight, but you carry on."

Meanwhile, the civil war and the desperate straits facing the country's 3.3 million people have stalled the work of the New Deal Party, a 3-year-old political party founded by activists in Liberia and those living abroad, such as Kieh. The Gwinnett County resident and his fellow Liberians are trying to promote democratic ideals in a region where corrupt, authoritarian government has been the norm.

Kieh and Alaric Tokpa, a doctoral student at Clark Atlanta University, comprise the presidential ticket for the party, which has an Atlanta chapter. Their party's political work in Liberia, however, has been set aside temporarily while party leaders focus on securing humanitarian aid for the people.

"We think people have to be educated to see that democracy is a tedious exercise, but you have to attend to the basic needs of the population for elections to be held," said Dougbeh Nyan, the party's vice chair of international affairs and a Washington-based doctor.

"We have made initial contact with international relief organizations because the war situation has displaced a lot of people, and driven people to go into refugee camps in different countries. A cease-fire would go a long way to clear the situation."

Last week, the prosecutor for international war crimes court indicted Taylor for war crimes in Sierra Leone. He allegedly armed rebels during that country's civil war in return for diamonds. Sierra Leone's civil war was declared over last year. Taylor, who has called the indictment politically motivated, has defied U.S. pressure to step down.

Kieh said the indictment came as no surprise, but "removal of Taylor from the Liberian political scene won't solve the problems in the country." He can't foresee an election being held this fall.

"There needs to be a lot done before those elections," he said. "I cannot see that happening in the next 18 to 24 months. The problems in Liberia are systemic."