The Hindu : Taylor accepts asylum offer, with riders

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 08, 2003

International

International

Taylor accepts asylum offer, with riders

MONROVIA (Liberia) JULY 7. The embattled Liberian President, Charles Taylor, urged the United States to send peacekeepers as part of a plan in which he would step down and go into asylum in Nigeria. However, he gave no timeframe for quitting power and insisted the transition should be orderly.

The calls on Thursday by Mr. Taylor and the Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, for a peaceful transition in Liberia increase pressure on the U.S. President, George W. Bush, to send U.S. troops to enforce a ceasefire in the war-ravaged West African nation.

Mr. Bush's five-nation visit to Africa starting Monday included Nigeria, the top mediator in West Africa.

A U.S military experts team is in Liberia to assess whether to deploy troops as part of a regional force, as the U.N., European powers and the Liberians have sought.

Mr. Taylor is under intense international pressure to step down and is holed up in the capital surrounded by rebels.

Another complication is the threat of trial on war crimes charges that Mr. Taylor's faces after his indictment by a U.N.-backed court in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Taylor made his announcement after Mr. Obasanjo met him at Monrovia's airport to offer asylum in his country. "I thank my big brother for coming," Mr. Taylor said. "He has extended an invitation and we have accepted an invitation."

But, Mr. Taylor said, "It is not unreasonable to request that there be an orderly exit from power." He said the U.S. participation in an international peacekeeping force was "crucial in every way".

Mr. Taylor and Mr. Obasanjo would not say when the Liberian President would step down, but Mr. Obasanjo said, "We believe that it will not take place in the near future."

Both warned that too hasty a departure could spark new fighting in the West African nation, where hundreds were killed in a failed rebel push into the capital last month.

"We believe the exit should not take place in confusion ... in a way that will lead to more bloodshed," Mr. Obasanjo said. "We believe the transition should be orderly and peaceful."

He said the peacekeepers' deployment should take place "in a very, very short time".

Though Mr. Taylor did not specify on Sunday whether the deployment of a peacekeeping force was not a condition for his departure, he said it was "necessary ... to prevent disruption".

The Bush administration showed little enthusiasm for Taylor's acceptance of Nigeria's asylum offer. — AP

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