Liberia’s main rebel group said on Tuesday it wanted to lead the interim government following the resignation and departure of former president Charles Taylor.
”We want to lead the interim government,” said Sekou Fofana, the deputy secretary general of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd).
”We will never accept to serve under Moses Blah,” he said, referring to the former vice president who took charge on Monday after Taylor — who had been at the centre of two bloody civil wars for 14 years — resigned under intense international pressure.
”The government of Liberia has been dissolved,” Fofana said.
”There is no more government.”
He added: ”Our leadership has political leaders and skilled men. Definitely we are part of this interim government.”
President John Kufuor of Ghana, who doubles up as the head of the west African bloc Ecowas which has been brokering Liberia’s peace talks, on Monday said Blah would head an interim administration until handing over power to a national transitional government in October.
Kufuor said parties at ongoing peace negotiations in the Ghanaian capital Accra had decided on a ”two-tier” system, with Blah heading the ”first tier” interim government arrangement until October.
”It (the first tier) will terminate on the second Tuesday in October this year,” Kufuor said.
Meanwhile, Taylor has embarked on a life in exile in Calabar, Nigeria, in a deluxe mansion by the sea, guarded by a corps of armed Nigerian police.
Taylor (55) arrived in Nigeria’s capital Abuja late on Monday night to a red-carpet welcome by President Olusegun Obasanjo. Shortly afterwards, Taylor, his wife Jewel and four daughters took off for Calabar, the quiet and mostly Christian capital of Nigeria’s southeastern Cross River State.
Obasanjo said as Taylor arrived: ”We will endeavor to be good hosts while he is in Nigeria.”
Nigeria, the regional powerhouse that has played a leading role in mediating for peace in war-torn Liberia, has granted asylum to Taylor, who faces war crimes charges for his role in the Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war.
Officials in Nigeria have stressed that the decision was motivated by concern over the humanitarian crisis in Liberia and the hope that his departure would speed an end to the war pitting two rebel movements against government forces.
They say they will not accept any ”harassment” or discussion over Taylor’s asylum status with Sierra Leone’s UN-backed Special Court.
But a leading Nigerian human rights group, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) based in Calabar, condemned the asylum offer and said that Taylor was not welcome in the city.
”Mr Taylor is a threat to the security and peace of this state. His stay here will definitely hurt the tourism effort we have all laboured to build,” it said, urging Obasanjo to ”facilitate the speedy arrest” and trial of Taylor.
Cross River State Governor Donald Duke and other top officials were expected to receive Taylor formally on Tuesday.
Duke was also expected to hold a news conference later, but it was not clear whether the former president would be present.
Calabar officials have worked quickly to spruce up the Patrick Archibong Lodge, a former governor’s mansion, to a standard befitting an exiled African leader, grooming the grounds and giving the two buildings on the premises a fresh coat of paint.
Landscaping in the exclusive and serene neighbourhood has been touched up, and long dead street lights have come to life.
Security on Tuesday was further tightened around the compound to accommodate Taylor and his entourage, who began arriving on Monday.
Calabar residents reacted to their new neighbour’s presence with a mix of indifference and indignation.
”I initially thought that Taylor’s coming to Calabar was a joke, but now that he is here, it has dawned on me that it is a fact,” said Etim Obot, a local resident.
Patrick Edobor, an engineer in Calabar, said: ”How does his presence bother me? Since the government has decided to grant him asylum and since I was not consulted over the matter, I do not lose any sleep over it.”
Taylor was accompanied out of Liberia to Abuja by Ghanaian President John Kufuor, Mozambican President Joachim Chissano, former Nigerian military leader Abdulsalami Abubakar and the executive secretary of 15-nation regional bloc Ecowas, Mohammed ibn Chambas.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, who had also witnessed the handover ceremony in Monrovia, followed shortly afterward.
Taylor and his family immediately visited the state governor’s lodge, officials said. – Sapa-AFP