LIBERIAN President Charles Taylor, who successfully negotiated the release of UN soldiers held hostage by the Sierra Leone rebel group RUF, said on Tuesday that the freedom was given “unconditionally.” “I thank God that I was able to convince them (RUF) to do the right thing, to release all the hostages unconditionally,” Taylor told a news conference following an ECOWAS summit in Abuja where it was agreed to boost the UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone by another 3000 West African troops. Taylor, who was about to leave for Tripoli, Libya, said that he used “positively” his knowledge and contact with the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Foday Sankoh, to secure the release. The last of the hostages was released late Sunday in Foya on the Liberian border and helicoptered to Monrovia.