Taylor tells Liberians he will 'sacrifice presidency'

IN a farewell address to his wartorn nation, President Charles Taylor declared yesterday he would "sacrifice my presidency" to stop bloodshed in Liberia.

Taylor, sitting solemnly with folded hands, recorded the address before a Liberian flag at his home.

"I love this country very much," Taylor said. "This is why I have decided to sacrifice my presidency. As I look at people dying, I must stop fighting."

The statement marked Taylor's first formal word to Liberia's people that he was quitting power, in a resignation ceremony due today.

"I stop now, because above all else, you the people count," Taylor said.

Late on Saturday, Vice President Moses Blah said that Taylor would make good on his pledge to turn over power at a formal ceremony today. Taylor has pledged to cede power and go into exile but has backed off similar promises before.

"President Taylor is relinquishing power for the sake of peace," Blah said. "Taylor is surely leaving; he's leaving the country in my hands."

Taylor was expected to address the nation on Saturday, but his spokesman Vaanii Passawe said a lack of fuel going at $30 a gallon meant the government was having trouble powering generators to record the speech.

Blah appealed to rebels besieging the capital Monrovia to stop fighting and help restore order. The rebels vehemently oppose Blah's succession, demanding that a neutral figure be appointed to preside over a transition government.

"I am telling my brothers out there ... lay down your arms, leave the bushes and come let's build the country," Blah said.

Rebels continued to remain sceptical of any promises from Taylor's administration.

"Until Taylor resigns, I won't believe it. He is a criminal," said a rebel civilian official, AL Hadjia Sekou Fofana. Fofana allowed that if Taylor indeed fulfils his vow to cede power, "it will be a step in the right direction".

Fofana renewed rebel pledges to give up the city's port to a West African peacekeeping force when it has sufficient strength to hold the harbour from Taylor's fighters. The peace force has 687 troops on the ground in Liberia on its way to a promised 3,250-member deployment.

American and West African military officers ventured into Monrovia's rebel-held port for the first time on Saturday since the two-month siege began. They found aid warehouses looted and corpses floating by the docks.

Taylor, a former warlord blamed for 14 years of conflict here, has pledged to go into exile in Nigeria some unspecified time after he resigns.