Liberia's Taylor Reiterates Promise to Step Down

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, August 11, 2003

Liberia's Taylor Reiterates Promise to Step Down

Liberian President Charles Taylor said in a farewell address on Sunday that he will sacrifice his presidency to stop bloodshed in Liberia.

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Liberian President Charles Taylor said in a farewell address on Sunday that he will sacrifice his presidency to stop bloodshed in Liberia, which was founded by freed American slaves in 1847.

According to reports reaching here from Monrovia, capital of Liberia, Taylor accused the United States of forcing his quit, saying he was being forced into exile and hoped to return some day.

"I am stepping down from this office of my own volition. No one can take credit for asking me to step down. I did not want to leave this country. I can say I have been forced by the world's superpower,'' Taylor was quoted as saying.

Taylor said he did not stop fighting because of fright and he loved his country.

"I must stop fighting now. I do not stop out of fear of the fight. I stop now out of love for you," he said in the address to the Liberian people. "For me it is no longer important that I fight. What is important is that you live and there is peace."

"I love this country very much,'' he said. "This is why I have decided to sacrifice my presidency. As I look at people dying, I must stop fighting.''

Taylor is expected to hand over power to Vice President Moses Blah on Monday in Monrovia before leaving for Calabar, a leading seaport city in southeast Nigeria.

Nigerian media reported Friday that a three-storey building had been completed exclusively for Taylor.

However, there also have been reports that Taylor might have chosen Libya rather than Nigeria as his haven after his exit.

The Liberian president is apparently facing a hostile receptionfrom segments of the Nigerian society for the killing of two Nigerian journalists who had gone to cover the crisis in his country in the mid-1990s.

Taylor's apology over the issue has not gone down well with Nigerians, especially the journalists' union which had challenged Taylor's asylum in court.

Taylor, a former warlord, was elected president of Liberia in August 1997. He has been indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed special court in Sierra Leone.

The Liberian civil war, which lasted more than 14 years and claimed at least 200,000 lives, flared up again in 1998 following attacks launched by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy in northern Liberia.

Civil war over the past decade has made Liberia among the most miserable places in the world and the latest unrest since 1998 has forced some 300,000 Liberians to flee to neighboring countries and left thousands more dead.

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