Taylor says farewell
2003-08-10 12:12
Monrovia - President Thabo Mbeki is one of a handful of African leaders who would attend the handover of power by Liberia's embattled president Charles Taylor to his deputy president Moses Blah.
On Sunday, the former warlord was to say farewell to his war-weary people.
Aides to Taylor said the president would give a "valedictory radio address" at some point on Sunday, announcing his departure six years after the former rebel he was sworn in as elected leader of his already war-wracked nation.
Most Liberians and international mediators hope that his resignation, and his eventual departure to exile in Nigeria, will take the heat out of Liberia's latest bout of civil war and allow peace talks to progress.
It comes as west African peacekeepers sought to raise their profile around Monrovia and persuade the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) to relinquish control of Monrovia's harbour.
The city's Freeport is regarded by aid agencies as the country's key gateway for bringing in humanitarian aid, but it is out of use and occupied by Lurd's guerrilla fighters, who have been besieging the capital for two months.
Port
On Saturday the Ecomil peacekeeping force was able to inspect the port, but it has not been given the go-ahead by rebels to deploy forces to secure it and re-open it to aid shipments.
General Festus Okonkwo, the head of the Nigerian-led west African force, told AFP he postponed plans to meet Lurd leaders on Saturday. US ambassador John Blaney also cancelled a visit, US officials said.
Instead, a lower-level team led by Okonkwo's chief of staff, Ghanaian Colonel Theopholis Tawiah, and US military attache Colonel Sue Ann Sandusky, toured the abandoned docks and looted warehouses of the rebel-held zone.
"We're looking at what is available here to handle humanitarian shipments, to see how effectively the port can be re-opened," Tawiah said, as rebel gunmen escorted the party around the area.
But Sekou Fofana, deputy secretary general of the rebel movement, told AFP that his comrades would not retreat to the Po River, 20km from the city, until Taylor makes his exit.
"The only obstacle is that Taylor should resign and leave the country," he told AFP among the battle-scarred buildings of Via Town, gateway to the port and the frontline between Lurd and Taylor's fighters.
Separate parties
Sekou insisted that humanitarian workers could have full access to the port, but this is an offer aid agencies are unlikely to take up until Ecomil can guarantee security in the area.
Gregory Blamoh, the country head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said the presence of the Ecomil at the port was vital for two reasons.
"First, the port is a point of contention and if the Ecomil were there, it would separate the two parties," he said.
"Secondly, the port is a source of food for the city," he said, adding that a 400 gram cup of rice now cost 100 Liberian dollars (about two US dollars, euros) in the government zone against 15 Liberian dollars three weeks ago.
Three African heads of state are due to attend Monday's transition of power in Liberia when warlord-turned-President Taylor hands over charge to his deputy Moses Blah.
Taylor's spokesperson Vaanii Paasewe said President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, who is acting chairman of the African Union, and John Kufuor of Ghana would attend the ceremony.