Liberian joy as peacekeepers move into Monrovia

HUNDREDS of thousands of Liberians cheered West African peacekeepers as they rumbled through the pockmarked capital yesterday, in an explosion of joy on streets that just last week formed a deadly frontline.

People lay down in front of the peacekeepers’ armoured personnel carriers, waved white flags and reached out to shake hands or even brush the boots of foreign soldiers many consider saviours after two weeks of bitter fighting.

Some people threw confetti made from torn-up leaves over the peacekeepers as they made their first trip through Monrovia since arriving in Liberia on Monday.

The Nigerian soldiers blew kisses or gave ‘V for victory’ sign as they drove through the city, where last week mortar shells and stray bullets dealt sudden death to residents.

“It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful,” said Nigerian Lt-Colonel Amos Nudamajo.

As his war-weary people celebrated the arrivals, President Charles Taylor prepared to leave, saying he would hand over power to his vice president, Moses Blah, next Monday.

He is then supposed to leave Liberia and go into exile, although he has set no date yet. A senior government official said Mr Taylor would leave the country “sooner than expected.”

Peacekeepers flew to Monrovia after three rebel attacks on Monrovia left at least 2,000 people dead and turned the city into a giant refugee camp with little food and water.

The foreign troops have brought new hope to a land broken by 14 years of conflict that have destabilised the region and created a generation of brutal young fighters.

The guns have largely fallen silent in Monrovia since the peacekeepers, who now number more than 450, arrived on Monday at the international airport, 28 miles from Monrovia.

“We want peace, no more war,” the crowd chanted as a first convoy of three armoured personnel carriers and two trucks rumbled into Monrovia’s outskirts from the airport yesterday.

After a tour of the town, the peacekeepers stopped at a Lebanese cultural centre where they will be based.

A seven-strong US Marine team has flown into Monrovia from warships offshore to liaise with the West Africans, but the United States has yet to decide if it will commit ground troops to a country founded by freed American slaves.

The United States has repeatedly demanded that the first step for peace must be the departure of Mr Taylor, a former warlord who is wanted for war crimes by a UN-backed court investigating atrocities during Sierra Leone’s savage civil war.

In London, Economy Minister Samuel Jackson, said Mr Taylor would decide shortly when to quit Liberia.