| Submit your comments on this article | |
| East/Subsaharan Africa | |
| Liberia President Agrees to Halt Hostilities Against Rebel Forces | |
| 2003-06-11 | |
| "OK - I'll halt hostilities if you quit gaining ground, killing my troops, and extend my 72 hour deadline indefinitely... please?" "We have just come out of a meeting with President Taylor. He has assured us that all his parties are also willing to halt hostilities. That's the mood we need for the talks to start," key mediator Mohamed Ibn Chambas said.
we need to consolidate and resupply anyway Peace talks meant to end a cycle of violence in Liberia have been stumbling along in Ghana for a week and mediators hope a cease-fire will allow serious work to begin. But a rebel ultimatum demanding the resignation of Taylor, who has been indicted for war crimes by a U.N.-backed court, expires Wednesday. Rebels at peace talks have not yet said what they will do, but will make a statement later. Over Charles' dead body LURD and another rebel group, known as Model, control around two-thirds of Liberia, a country of three million which was founded by freed American slaves as a haven of liberty but is now a byword for brutality in a region scarred by war. The West African mediation team arrived as conditions in Monrovia grew more desperate after days of fighting, which saw rebels push to within 3 miles of the city center. Liberians fear a repeat of the bloody fighting that left the city streets strewn with bodies in the 1990s. Refugees are huddled in schools and a sports stadium, with little food or water. Medecins Sans Frontieres said possibly up to one million people were displaced in the city, with the situation especially difficult in northern districts. "There are dead bodies in the main street and you can smell death in many places," said Alain Kassa, head of MSF in Monrovia. Cholera outbreaks are feared. But at least there's plenty to eat Many international aid workers have left. Wednesday, 535 foreigners, including U.S. and European nationals, arrived in Ivory Coast's southern port of Abidjan aboard a French military vessel after being whisked out of Monrovia on helicopters. Taylor — a former warlord long accused of fuelling more than a decade of conflicts in West Africa — has been indicted by a U.N.-backed war crimes court in nearby Sierra Leone. Senior West African officials have suggested Taylor might be able to take refuge in another country if he left power, but the court's chief prosecutor said in a statement Tuesday that there could be no escape for those indicted for war crimes. except in Cuba, North Korea, Iran..... "There can be no deals for these indictees that avoid them being brought to justice immediately," David Crane said. A spokesman for Taylor was defiant. "No way, no way will he resign or step aside unless it's part of a total deal," he said. "including myself of course" | |
| Posted by:Frank G |