IRIN - Liberian peace talks in Ghana reached deadlock at the weekend as both rebel movements demanded that President Charles Taylor resign within 10 days of a ceasefire agreement being signed.
| Tip... tip... tip... Go ahead and tip, dammit! |
Monrovia remained calm on Sunday, five days after rebel fighters withdrew from the western suburbs of the city, but residents said they were afraid of further attacks soon given their latest ultimatum to Taylor to quit. The sources at the peace talks in Akosombo, a lakeside town 100 km north of Accra, said the Liberian government delegation had flatly refused this demand by the rebels, who control about two thirds of Liberia, who had demanded that Taylor quit as part of any ceasefire agreement. The delegation, led by Defence Minister Daniel Chea, had responded that Taylor would only consider stepping down once he and other government leaders and senior military commanders had been given international guarantees about their security, they added. Taylor was indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed Special Court in Sierra Leone last week for his alleged part in fuelling that country's 1991-2001 civil war, which was marked by the arbitrary killing, maiming and rape of tens of thousands of civilians.
| So give him "immunity" and then make sure all his enemies know his address and phone number. Somebody'll shoot him, or blow him up, or beat his head in with a rock... |
The conference sources said the Akosombo talks bogged down on Saturday over three new conditions put forward by the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement of Democracy For Liberia (MODEL) rebel groups. |