Liberian rebels agree to pull out of Monrovia

By DECLAN WALSH in Monrovia

Liberian rebels agreed to withdraw from Monrovia on Tuesday potentially ending a three-week siege that has left hundreds dead and sparked a major humanitarian crisis.

After meeting with US and Nigerian peacekeeping commanders, the rebels said they would leave the port area of the city at noon tomorrow and pull back to the Po river 12 kms away.

"We are not leaving one man behind, all of us will pack our bags and leave for our headquarters," said Sekou Fofana, a senior official with Liberians United For Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).

US Ambassador John Blaney said international peacekeepers would move in to occupy the vacuum but any US involvement "has to be determined". The peacekeeping delegation was protected by 21 heavily-armed American troops, from US warships moored off the Liberian coast.

The break-through should allow vital humanitarian supplies and help end the food crisis affecting more than one million city residents. The agreement came one day after Charles Taylor left for exile in Nigeria, leaving the presidency to his deputy, Moses Blah. Government troops will also withdraw from positions in central Monrovia, LURD officials said they had been told.

Impatience with the peacekeeping mission is growing in Monrovia as the food crisis continues to deepen. Cries of "We want peace" changed to "We want rice" as the US-led convoy passed through market areas on their way to the frontline.

Some Monrovians barked comments and waved angrily as the US ambassador's car passed through the throng. Hundreds had gathered at the mouth of the bridge leading to rebel territory, where government militiamen refused to allow them pass.

Rebel control of the port has cut off rice supplies from most of the city, raising prices tenfold in recent days. Fuel prices have shot up to $30 a gallon, hampering the work of aid workers now returning to the city.

Liberia's main rebel group has has held Monrovia's port and surrounding districts since roughly July 19, cutting off aid and food to hundreds of thousands of refugees and civilians on the government-held side of the city. Rebels have insisted they would leave the port only when President Charles Taylor leaves the country, and when West African peacekeepers were ready to take the port to keep it from falling back in government hands.

Brigadier General Festus Okonkwo of Nigeria, the West African peace force commander, said yesterday the government side would be obligated to withdraw its militias from the city as well. It's not clear whether that meant regular Liberian forces as well as militias would be made to pull out. The written accord with rebels said nothing about a government militia pullback.

The United States, which oversaw Liberia's founding by freed slaves in the 19th century, has provided some logistical support and funding to the West African peace mission.

Taylor flew into exile in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday as hundreds of Liberians, thin and ragged, prayed his departure would mark a turning point for their war-torn country. Taylor, the warlord who brought 14 years of bloodshed to Liberia, handed over his presidency to Blah.

Three US warships briefly moved into view off Monrovia within minutes of Taylor's ceding power to Blah.

In an interview with CNN television Monday, Blah appealed to the US Marines to come offshore: "Please come to Liberia and save us because we are dying. We are hungry."

US President George W. Bush called Taylor's exile "an important step toward a better future" for Liberians but gave no hint whether he was closer to deploying more US troops to assist with peacekeeping or humanitarian relief efforts.

At Monday's handover ceremony in Monrovia, Taylor mentioned returning to Liberia despite admitted fears of assassination and an international arrest warrant from a UN-backed war crimes court.

Accusing the United States anew of forcing him out, Taylor remained unrepentant for launching once-prosperous Liberia into bloodshed in 1989, when as a rebel he led a small insurgency to topple then-President Samuel Doe.

Taylor faces indictment for alleged diamond- and arms-trafficking with a vicious rebel movement in neighbouring Sierra Leone. Rebels have seized most of Liberia in their three-year campaign to depose Taylor.

Blah is to hand over power in October to a transitional government meant to lead Liberia into elections, Kufuor said.

- INDEPENDENT