Liberian government appears to backtrack on peace deal

Liberia’s government appeared to be backtracking today on a peace deal that would see warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor give up power.

The deal was reached at talks between the government and two rebel groups in neighbouring Ghana after Taylor said he was willing to be “the sacrifice” for peace in the troubled West Africa nation.

But today a government spokesman said a ceasefire agreement had been reached at the talks, and that “political” questions still remained.

“It is a political discussion, including the issue of the stepping aside of President Taylor,” Vaanii Paasawe said. “What we were successful in doing in Accra was to separate the ceasefire issue from the political questions.”

News of the truce had sparked joyous scenes in the Liberian capital Monrovia, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said United Nations troops could help observe the ceasefire.

If 54-year-old Taylor, a Western-educated Baptist, does step down, it would end the rule of a warlord who threw his country – once sub-Saharan Africa’s richest – into years of bloody civil war.

He faces the prospect of trial at a UN-backed court for alleged war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he supported rebels who fought a 10-year insurgency. The indictment was announced June 4.

After the ceasefire was signed yesterday in Ghana, a court spokesman insisted Taylor would still have to face justice.

“Whether he is president or not, he’s indicted by the special court, so he should have his day in court,” David Hecht said.

The United States praised the truce and said it looked forward to the formation of an interim government without Taylor.