Liberia’s embattled president, Charles Taylor, accepted an offer of asylum in Nigeria yesterday but gave no indication of when he would leave and insisted that it must be an ”orderly exit from power”.
The announcement followed the visit of Nigeria’s president, Olusegun Obasanjo, to discuss the offer, ahead of a team of US military planners who are due to arrive today to assess America’s role in a peacekeeping force in the war-torn nation.
After talks at Monrovia airport Taylor and Obasanjo warned that too hasty a departure could spark new fighting in Liberia, where hundreds died in a failed rebel push into the capital in June.
Taylor said: ”I thank my big brother for coming. He has extended an invitation and we have accepted an invitation.” But he added, ”It is not unreasonable to request that there be an orderly exit from power.” He said US participation in an peacekeeping force planned for Liberia was ”crucial”.
Obasanjo said: ”We believe the exit should not take place in confusion … in a way that will lead to more bloodshed. We believe the transition should be orderly and peaceful.” It should take place ”in a very, very short time”.
Taylor has been indicted for war crimes by the international tribunal in neighbouring Sierra Leone, for his role in arming and commanding Sierra Leone’s defunct rebels.
The court said last night that it would pursue Taylor even if he went to Nigeria. Nigeria is a member of the tribunal’s management committee, but is thought to have promised not to extradite Taylor to the court.
Nigeria’s offer is thought to have been made under US pressure, after George Bush said America would not intervene in Liberia while Taylor remained in power.
Last night the main rebel faction, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, remained sceptical that Taylor would go.
In Washington, the chairman of the Senate armed services committee said yesterday that the US Congress should vote before any American troops were sent to Liberia.
”It’s a presidential decision, but … I would want a vote in the Congress before we begin to commit substantial forces into that region,” said Republican John Warner of Virginia. – Guardian Unlimited Â