Liberian leader cedes power for cease-fire

ACCRA, Ghana -- Liberia's President Charles Taylor, a war crimes suspect who fueled many of West Africa's bloody conflicts, pledged Tuesday to yield power as part of a cease-fire with rebels. But his government quickly hedged on the resignation.

News of the truce set off dancing in the streets of Liberia's war-devastated capital, and the United Nations announced it would lend support and troops to a cease-fire observation mission.

But skepticism ran strong that Taylor -- who repeatedly has made and broken deals in 14 years of conflicts and now has the threat of a war crimes trial hanging over his head -- would give up the power he fought so long to hold.

Terms of agreement

In Monrovia, Taylor's spokesman suggested within hours of the signing in nearby Ghana that the cease-fire, anxiously sought by the embattled government, was the only binding part of the accord.

"It's a political discussion, including the issue of the stepping aside of President Taylor," spokesman Vaanii Paasawe said. "What we were successful in doing in Accra was to separate the cease-fire issue from the political questions."

The government signed the truce as insurgents in Liberia's three-year civil war were at the doorstep of the capital, prevented from overrunning Monrovia only by fierce fighting with Taylor loyalists.

"I can't believe my ear. I want to see it happen before I celebrate," clothes peddler Mary Sneh exclaimed, as rejoicing Liberians ran out into the streets, and shoppers danced at one market. "But we can only tell God thanks."

Taylor made no public comment on the pact, and his radio station announced only the cease-fire, not the rest of the pact -- which calls for further negotiations to work out a full peace deal and a new government without Taylor.

If the 54-year-old president does step down, it would end the rule of a warlord who threw his country -- once sub-Saharan Africa's richest -- into years of civil war and drew U.N. sanctions for gunrunning and diamond-smuggling that allegedly supported rebel movements elsewhere.

Taylor faces the prospect of trial at a U.N.-backed court for alleged war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone, where he supported rebels who fought a 10-year insurgency. The indictment was announced June 4.

After the cease-fire was signed, a court spokesman insisted Taylor still would have to face justice.

"Whether he's president or not, he's indicted by the special court, so he should have his day in court," David Hecht said.

The United States praised the truce and said it looked forward to the formation of an interim government without Taylor.

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Philip T. Reeker spoke of Liberians' suffering under Taylor and said those responsible for atrocities in West Africa's conflicts should be held accountable.

Taylor could seek clemency in return for stepping down. He warned last week that his country would not know peace as long as the indictment against him stands. "It has to be removed," he said.

Taylor's defense minister, Daniel Chea, who signed the cease-fire in Accra, said the deal committed Taylor to stepping down and staying out of the transition government that would follow.

"President Taylor fully supports this peace accord, and the government will do anything to ensure its success," Chea said.

"We're letting the world know that the government of Liberia wishes in no way to be part of any further bloodshed."

On Taylor's resignation, the accord says Liberia's government, rebels, political parties and others will "seek, within 30 days, a comprehensive peace agreement. The peace agreement shall amongst other issues, cover ... formation of a transitional government, which will not include the current President."

Rebels today hold at least 60 percent of Liberia, founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves. The war has forced at least 1.3 million from their homes. Rights groups accuse both sides of widespread atrocities against civilians.

The rebels include former combatants from Liberia's 7-year civil war, which killed at least 150,000 people.

Taylor launched that war in 1989 with Libyan backing, targeting what was then a strongly U.S.-allied government. He emerged as Liberia's strongest warlord and won presidential elections the following year -- elected in part by people who feared he would renew the civil war if he lost.

On June 4, as the peace talks opened, prosecutors for the U.N.-Sierra Leone court announced his indictment. An emotional Taylor promised then to surrender power in the interests of peace.

"If President Taylor is seen as a problem, then I will remove myself. I'm doing this because I'm tired of the people dying. I can no longer see this genocide in Liberia," he said at the time.

But he has not repeated the promise since returning to Liberia.

West African nations intend to send a 15-member mission immediately to start overseeing a cease-fire, said Sony Ugoh, an official with the West African regional bloc that oversaw the talks.

That would be followed by a West African-led "stabilization force," Ugoh said, adding that the force could include unspecified American assistance.