Post by LightMyWay on Aug 10, 2003 22:49:01 GMT -5
Taylor prepares to leave Liberia
In taped address, president vows to step down.
MONROVIA, Liberia, Aug. 10 — In a farewell address to his wartorn nation, President Charles Taylor declared Sunday he would “sacrifice my presidency” to stop bloodshed in Liberia. Declaring himself “the sacrificial lamb” to end what he called a U.S.-backed rebel war against his regime, Taylor gave the address on the evening before he was to hand power to Vice President Moses Blah at one minute before noon (7:59 a.m. EDT) Monday.
Taylor, sitting solemnly with folded hands, recorded the address before a Liberian flag at his home. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the recording before its broadcast to the nation on Sunday.
“I love this country very much,” Taylor said. “This is why I have decided to sacrifice my presidency. As I look at people dying, I must stop fighting,” said the president, his face worn and tired, his beard tinged with grey, voice slow and raspy. “I do not stop out of fear. I do not stop out of fright. I stop out of love for you, my people,” Taylor declared, adding, “I fought for you.”
The statement marked Taylor’s first formal word to Liberia’s people that he was quitting power, in a resignation ceremony set for Monday.
Taylor has not said when he will leave, but South Africa’s ambassador said he would go at the same time as leaders, including South African President Thabo Mbeki, depart after Monday’s handover.
Taylor has said he would accept a Nigerian asylum offer and two flights carrying family members and property — including three cars — landed on Sunday in the southeast Nigerian town of Calabar, officials there told Reuters.
Rebel leader Sekou Conneh met in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has offered Taylor exile. Obasanjo urged Conneh to support West African-led peace efforts, said Obasanjo spokeswoman Remi Oyo.
Conneh, in turn, pledged to open Monrovia’s rebel-held port quickly for humanitarian supplies — but indicated that would come only after Taylor’s departure.
‘YOU, THE PEOPLE COUNT’
“I stop now, because above all else, you, the people count,” Taylor said.
Taylor made no apologies — asking only forgiveness from any he may have wronged, in what have been his years of carnage.
He compared his departure from the presidency to Jesus submitting himself to the Romans.
“If I were the problem — which you know and I know I’m not — I would ... become the sacrificial lamb,” Taylor said. “I would become the whipping boy that you should live.”
Taylor also accused America of forcing his departure. The United States and West African nations have demanded Taylor cede power in a bid to end 14 years of conflict.
By late Sunday, Taylor’s speech had not been played on local radio in the unlit capital, shattered by shelling and littered with shrapnel, bullet casings and rubbish from looting by Taylor’s forces.
The recording session came as at least one car piled high with luggage pulled out of Taylor’s high-walled private home.
2,000+ PEOPLE KILLED
At least 2,000 people have been killed since June in the latest bout of bloodletting to grip Monrovia, capital of a country that was founded in hope by freed 19th-century American slaves and is now a pariah state.
Scores of fighters emerged from both sides of the frontline in Monrovia on Sunday, hugging, joking and swapping cigarettes and clothes on the bridges where battle raged a week ago.
But while the guns are silent in the capital, there is little sign of a let-up in the dire humanitarian crisis here. The United Nations estimates that at least 450,000 people are displaced in Monrovia — many of them hungry and sick.
Markets have only a few green leaves for sauce on sale. Prices for the staple rice have risen by five times or more.
“We thank God the bullets have stopped,” said Moifee Sombai, standing on a street where stray gunfire killed many. “But now it is the silent weapons. We are dying silently.”
‘FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE’
Late Saturday, Blah told the AP that Taylor would make good on his pledge to turn over power at a ceremony Monday. Taylor has pledged to cede power and go into exile but has backed off similar promises in the past.
“President Taylor is relinquishing power for the sake of peace,” Blah said. “Taylor is surely leaving; he’s leaving the country in my hands.”
Blah appealed to rebels besieging Monrovia to stop fighting and help restore order. The rebels vehemently oppose Blah’s succession, demanding that a neutral figure be appointed to preside over a transition government.
“I am telling my brothers out there ... lay down your arms, leave the bushes and come let’s build the country,” Blah said.
Blah said he would invite leaders of rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) for talks as soon as he took office and was “100 percent sure” of ending the desperate humanitarian crisis.
“This is over. We should lay down the guns and smoke the peace pipe,” said Blah, whom the rebels have said they will reject as just another of Taylor’s old guard.
BRANDED AS ‘A CRIMINAL’
Rebels remained skeptical of any promises from Taylor’s administration.
“Until Taylor resigns, I won’t believe it. He is a criminal,” said A.L. Hadjia Sekou Fofana, a rebel civilian official. Fofana allowed that if Taylor indeed fulfills his vow to cede power, “it will be a step in the right direction.”
Fofana renewed rebel pledges to turn over Monrovia’s port to a West African peacekeeping force when it has sufficient strength to hold the harbor from Taylor’s fighters. The peace force had 687 troops on the ground in Liberia on its way to a promised 3,250-member deployment.
American and West African military officers ventured into Monrovia’s rebel-held port for the first time on Saturday since the two-month siege began. They found aid warehouses looted and corpses floating by the docks.
The U.S. and West African officers negotiated with the rebels for days to gain access to the port. The access is crucial to opening humanitarian lines for Monrovia.
Kabineh Ja’Neh, a top rebel official at off-and-on peace talks in Ghana, said he favored a humanitarian corridor “in principle.” He emphasized that rebels had yet to make a formal decision.
Rebel fighters clutching rocket launchers and assault rifles escorted the West African troops, three U.S. Marines and a U.S. Embassy military attache, Army Col. Sue Ann Sandusky, through the port to view damage from the rebel sieges.
The West Africans and U.S. Marines surveyed shelled, charred piers looking for docks where aid ships can deliver food to the capital. Discolored bodies floated next to upended, rusted ships.
WEAK TRUCE IN MONROVIA
The peacekeepers’ presence and Taylor’s promise to resign have helped bring a weak truce to Monrovia, though fighting persists in the countryside.
As the clock ticked down Saturday on Taylor’s regime, his spokesman Vaanii Passawe warned that government fighters might cause chaos when he leaves. “Our morale has been sapped,” he said.
“The situation is likely to collapse unless some pressure is put to bear” on the rebels, Passawe said. “Once the president leaves, our boys might be stigmatized. If that is the case, you must expect chaos. Hell might just break loose.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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From the perspective of someone who knows very little about this entire situation, I only hope that this is a positive progression towards a peaceful (or as peaceful as anything can be at this point) solution.
Also, if anyone has more information about this topic, I'd be interested to hear it. Or read it, I suppose, huh.
In taped address, president vows to step down.
MONROVIA, Liberia, Aug. 10 — In a farewell address to his wartorn nation, President Charles Taylor declared Sunday he would “sacrifice my presidency” to stop bloodshed in Liberia. Declaring himself “the sacrificial lamb” to end what he called a U.S.-backed rebel war against his regime, Taylor gave the address on the evening before he was to hand power to Vice President Moses Blah at one minute before noon (7:59 a.m. EDT) Monday.
Taylor, sitting solemnly with folded hands, recorded the address before a Liberian flag at his home. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the recording before its broadcast to the nation on Sunday.
“I love this country very much,” Taylor said. “This is why I have decided to sacrifice my presidency. As I look at people dying, I must stop fighting,” said the president, his face worn and tired, his beard tinged with grey, voice slow and raspy. “I do not stop out of fear. I do not stop out of fright. I stop out of love for you, my people,” Taylor declared, adding, “I fought for you.”
The statement marked Taylor’s first formal word to Liberia’s people that he was quitting power, in a resignation ceremony set for Monday.
Taylor has not said when he will leave, but South Africa’s ambassador said he would go at the same time as leaders, including South African President Thabo Mbeki, depart after Monday’s handover.
Taylor has said he would accept a Nigerian asylum offer and two flights carrying family members and property — including three cars — landed on Sunday in the southeast Nigerian town of Calabar, officials there told Reuters.
Rebel leader Sekou Conneh met in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has offered Taylor exile. Obasanjo urged Conneh to support West African-led peace efforts, said Obasanjo spokeswoman Remi Oyo.
Conneh, in turn, pledged to open Monrovia’s rebel-held port quickly for humanitarian supplies — but indicated that would come only after Taylor’s departure.
‘YOU, THE PEOPLE COUNT’
“I stop now, because above all else, you, the people count,” Taylor said.
Taylor made no apologies — asking only forgiveness from any he may have wronged, in what have been his years of carnage.
He compared his departure from the presidency to Jesus submitting himself to the Romans.
“If I were the problem — which you know and I know I’m not — I would ... become the sacrificial lamb,” Taylor said. “I would become the whipping boy that you should live.”
Taylor also accused America of forcing his departure. The United States and West African nations have demanded Taylor cede power in a bid to end 14 years of conflict.
By late Sunday, Taylor’s speech had not been played on local radio in the unlit capital, shattered by shelling and littered with shrapnel, bullet casings and rubbish from looting by Taylor’s forces.
The recording session came as at least one car piled high with luggage pulled out of Taylor’s high-walled private home.
2,000+ PEOPLE KILLED
At least 2,000 people have been killed since June in the latest bout of bloodletting to grip Monrovia, capital of a country that was founded in hope by freed 19th-century American slaves and is now a pariah state.
Scores of fighters emerged from both sides of the frontline in Monrovia on Sunday, hugging, joking and swapping cigarettes and clothes on the bridges where battle raged a week ago.
But while the guns are silent in the capital, there is little sign of a let-up in the dire humanitarian crisis here. The United Nations estimates that at least 450,000 people are displaced in Monrovia — many of them hungry and sick.
Markets have only a few green leaves for sauce on sale. Prices for the staple rice have risen by five times or more.
“We thank God the bullets have stopped,” said Moifee Sombai, standing on a street where stray gunfire killed many. “But now it is the silent weapons. We are dying silently.”
‘FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE’
Late Saturday, Blah told the AP that Taylor would make good on his pledge to turn over power at a ceremony Monday. Taylor has pledged to cede power and go into exile but has backed off similar promises in the past.
“President Taylor is relinquishing power for the sake of peace,” Blah said. “Taylor is surely leaving; he’s leaving the country in my hands.”
Blah appealed to rebels besieging Monrovia to stop fighting and help restore order. The rebels vehemently oppose Blah’s succession, demanding that a neutral figure be appointed to preside over a transition government.
“I am telling my brothers out there ... lay down your arms, leave the bushes and come let’s build the country,” Blah said.
Blah said he would invite leaders of rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) for talks as soon as he took office and was “100 percent sure” of ending the desperate humanitarian crisis.
“This is over. We should lay down the guns and smoke the peace pipe,” said Blah, whom the rebels have said they will reject as just another of Taylor’s old guard.
BRANDED AS ‘A CRIMINAL’
Rebels remained skeptical of any promises from Taylor’s administration.
“Until Taylor resigns, I won’t believe it. He is a criminal,” said A.L. Hadjia Sekou Fofana, a rebel civilian official. Fofana allowed that if Taylor indeed fulfills his vow to cede power, “it will be a step in the right direction.”
Fofana renewed rebel pledges to turn over Monrovia’s port to a West African peacekeeping force when it has sufficient strength to hold the harbor from Taylor’s fighters. The peace force had 687 troops on the ground in Liberia on its way to a promised 3,250-member deployment.
American and West African military officers ventured into Monrovia’s rebel-held port for the first time on Saturday since the two-month siege began. They found aid warehouses looted and corpses floating by the docks.
The U.S. and West African officers negotiated with the rebels for days to gain access to the port. The access is crucial to opening humanitarian lines for Monrovia.
Kabineh Ja’Neh, a top rebel official at off-and-on peace talks in Ghana, said he favored a humanitarian corridor “in principle.” He emphasized that rebels had yet to make a formal decision.
Rebel fighters clutching rocket launchers and assault rifles escorted the West African troops, three U.S. Marines and a U.S. Embassy military attache, Army Col. Sue Ann Sandusky, through the port to view damage from the rebel sieges.
The West Africans and U.S. Marines surveyed shelled, charred piers looking for docks where aid ships can deliver food to the capital. Discolored bodies floated next to upended, rusted ships.
WEAK TRUCE IN MONROVIA
The peacekeepers’ presence and Taylor’s promise to resign have helped bring a weak truce to Monrovia, though fighting persists in the countryside.
As the clock ticked down Saturday on Taylor’s regime, his spokesman Vaanii Passawe warned that government fighters might cause chaos when he leaves. “Our morale has been sapped,” he said.
“The situation is likely to collapse unless some pressure is put to bear” on the rebels, Passawe said. “Once the president leaves, our boys might be stigmatized. If that is the case, you must expect chaos. Hell might just break loose.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
-----------------------
From the perspective of someone who knows very little about this entire situation, I only hope that this is a positive progression towards a peaceful (or as peaceful as anything can be at this point) solution.
Also, if anyone has more information about this topic, I'd be interested to hear it. Or read it, I suppose, huh.