Charles Taylor, the Liberian president, under siege from rebels in the capital Monrovia, yesterday renewed his promise to step aside and seek asylum in Nigeria.
A senior Nigerian government official said President Taylor had accepted an offer of asylum. ”[He] asked to be given 40 days, but Nigeria said it should be some time this month,” said the official.
Taylor, who has been in power for six years, said yesterday he would only relinquish power when an international force arrived.
But George Bush, the US president, who visits Africa next week, is said to be unwilling to commit troops to Liberia until Taylor goes. The US had been asked to send a small detachment of troops, of up to 1 000, to lead a mainly African peacekeping force.
”It makes a lot of sense for peacekeepers to arrive in this city before I transit,” Taylor told a meeting of Liberian clerics in Monrovia.
Taylor was indicted as a war criminal last month, accused of fomenting the civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone fought over diamonds. British military intervention three years ago helped end the Sierra Leone conflict.
Western governments yesterday treated Taylor’s comments with caution, recalling that he reneged on a promise a fortnight ago to leave.
If he goes into asylum, the US, Britain and other countries will try to prise him out of Nigeria to face trial.
While promising to leave yesterday, Taylor also warned that, if he chose, he could create another bloodbath round Monrovia.
He said government forces loyal to him were still ”capable of carrying out havoc in the city”.
The World Health Organisation yesterday appealed for international assistance for 100 000 refugees from Monrovia who fled the fighting. Cholera and dysentry have risen over the past few weeks.
President Bush is sending military experts to Africa to assess whether his troops in Liberia would help bring stability to the war-torn nation. – Guardian Unlimited Â