Liberian President pledges to yield power
( 2003-06-18 11:03) (Agencies)
Liberia's President Charles Taylor, a war crimes suspect who fueled many of
West Africa's bloody conflicts, pledged Tuesday to yield power as part of a
cease-fire with rebels. But his government quickly hedged on the resignation.
News of the truce set off dancing in the streets of Liberia's
war-devastated capital, and the United Nations announced it would lend support
and troops to a cease-fire observation mission.
But skepticism ran strong that Taylor - who repeatedly has made and
broken deals in 14 years of conflicts and now has the threat of a war crimes
trial hanging over his head - would give up the power he fought so long to hold.
In Monrovia, Taylor's spokesman suggested within hours of the signing in
nearby Ghana that the cease-fire, anxiously sought by the embattled government,
was the only binding part of the accord.
"It's a political discussion, including the issue of the stepping aside
of President Taylor," spokesman Vaanii Paasawe said. "What we were successful in
doing in Accra was to separate the cease-fire issue from the political
questions."
The government signed the truce as insurgents in Liberia's 3-year civil
war were at the doorstep of the capital, prevented from overrunning Monrovia
only by fierce fighting with Taylor loyalists.
"I can't believe my ear. I want to see it happen before I celebrate,"
clothes peddler Mary Sneh exclaimed, as rejoicing Liberians ran out into the
streets, and shoppers danced at one market. "But we can only tell God thanks."
Taylor made no public comment on the pact, and his radio station
announced only the cease-fire, not the rest of the pact - which calls for
further negotiations to work out a full peace deal and a new government without
Taylor.
If the 54-year-old president does step down, it would end the rule of a
warlord who threw his country - once sub-Saharan Africa's richest - into years
of civil war and drew UN sanctions for gunrunning and diamond-smuggling that
allegedly supported rebel movements elsewhere.
Taylor faces the prospect of trial at a UN-backed court for alleged war
crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone, where he supported rebels who fought a
10-year insurgency. The indictment was announced June 4.
After the cease-fire was signed, a court spokesman insisted Taylor still
would have to face justice.
"Whether he's president or not, he's indicted by the special court, so he
should have his day in court," David Hecht said.
The United States praised the truce and said it looked forward to the
formation of an interim government without Taylor.
In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Philip T. Reeker spoke
of Liberians' suffering under Taylor and said those responsible for atrocities
in West Africa's conflicts should be held accountable.
Taylor could seek clemency in return for stepping down. He warned last
week that his country would not know peace as long as the indictment against him
stands. "It has to be removed," he said.
Taylor's defense minister, Daniel Chea, who signed the cease-fire in
Accra, said the deal committed Taylor to stepping down and staying out of the
transition government that would follow.
"President Taylor fully supports this peace accord, and the government
will do anything to ensure its success," Chea said.
"We're letting the world know that the government of Liberia wishes in no
way to be part of any further bloodshed."
On Taylor's resignation, the accord says Liberia's government, rebels,
political parties and others will "seek, within 30 days, a comprehensive peace
agreement. The peace agreement shall amongst other issues, cover ... formation
of a transitional government, which will not include the current President."
Rebels today hold at least 60 percent of Liberia, founded in the 19th
century by freed American slaves. The war has forced at least 1.3 million from
their homes. Rights groups accuse both sides of widespread atrocities against
civilians.
The rebels include former combatants from Liberia's 7-year civil war,
which killed at least 150,000 people.
Taylor launched that war in 1989 with Libyan backing, targeting what was
then a strongly US-allied government. He emerged as Liberia's strongest warlord
and won presidential elections the following year - elected in part by people
who feared he would renew the civil war if he lost.
On June 4, as the peace talks opened, prosecutors for the UN-Sierra Leone
court announced his indictment. An emotional Taylor promised then to surrender
power in the interests of peace.
"If President Taylor is seen as a problem, then I will remove myself. I'm
doing this because I'm tired of the people dying. I can no longer see this
genocide in Liberia," he said at the time.
But he has not repeated the promise since returning to Liberia.
West African nations intend to send a 15-member mission immediately to
start overseeing a cease-fire, said Sony Ugoh, an official with the West African
regional bloc that oversaw the talks.
That would be followed by a West African-led "stabilization force," Ugoh
said, adding that the force could include unspecified American assistance.
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