Monrovia, July 04: Liberia's besieged President Charles Taylor renewed a pledge to step down today, but stressed he would only leave after an international peacekeeping force arrives in his West African nation. ``It makes a lot of sense for peacekeepers to arrive in this city before I transit,'' Taylor told a meeting of Liberian clerics in the capital of Monrovia.
The comments came after US President George W. Bush, who is considering whether to send US troops to Liberia as part of peacekeeping mission, said Taylor's removal from power was a condition for any progress in the war-torn nation. Taylor, who backed off past promises to step down even as rebels bore down on Monrovia trying to remove him earlier this months, welcomed the possibility that American troops might be included in the peacekeeping force.
``I welcome and will embrace the presence of American troops in Liberia. I think it will be essential for stability,'' he said, but added, ``I don't understand why the United States government would insist that I be absent before its soldiers arrive.'' Taylor offered a chilling warning, however, to his rebel opponents that government forces were still ``capable of carrying out havoc'' in Monrovia.
``I'm not fighting to stay in power,'' he said. ``What I am fighting for right now is that there would be such a normal transition that anger, frustration and other things don't creep in.''
UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, France and Britain have called for a peacekeeping forces to enforce a cease-fire between Taylor's loyalists and rebels. Bureau Report