Washington, Aug 05: The United States has welcomed the deployment of Nigerian troops to Liberia but stepped up its calls for Liberian President Charles Taylor to leave office and the country for the peacekeeping mission to work. The White House and the State Department said Taylor, who has been charged with war crimes by a court in neighbouring Sierra Leone, had to leave Liberia and eventually face the charges amid reports that the President might seek to step down but remain in the country.
"We believe that Charles Taylor must fulfill his commitment to step down and to depart the country," Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said yesterday.
"Once he departs, as we've said in the past, he will have to address and answer the indictment against him," he told reporters.
In Crawford, Texas, where President George W Bush is vacationing on his ranch, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Washington was "very encouraged" by the Nigerian deployment, which is the vanguard of a larger force from Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).
But, McClellan, too, reiterated the US demand that Taylor, who has said he will leave office on August 11, stand down. "Taylor needs to step down."
Reeker said the arrival of the Nigerian troops had to be accompanied by an end to hostilities on all sides, calling on the government and the two main rebel groups -- Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (Model) -- to recommit to a failed ceasefire. Bureau Report