Liberian rebels reject Blah
2003-08-12 14:16
Monrovia - Liberia's main rebel group on Tuesday said it wanted to lead the interim government following the resignation and departure of former president Charles Taylor.
"We want to lead the interim government," Sekou Fofana, the deputy secretary-general of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) said.
"We will never accept to serve under Moses Blah," he said, referring to the former vice president who took charge on Monday after Taylor - who had been at the centre of two bloody civil wars for 14 years - resigned under intense international pressure.
"The government of Liberia has been dissolved," Fofana said. "There is no more government."
He added: "Our leadership has political leaders and skilled men. Definitely we are part of this interim government."
President John Kufuor of Ghana, who doubles up as the head of the west African bloc Ecowas which has brokering Liberia's peace talks, on Monday said Blah would head an interim administration until handing over power to a national transitional government in October.
Kufuor said parties at ongoing peace negotiations in the Ghanaian capital Accra had decided on a "two-tier" system, with Blah heading the "first tier" interim government arrangement until October.
"It (the first tier) will terminate on the second Tuesday in October this year," Kufuor said.