Peace keeping force in Liberia 'by Monday'

West African leaders pledged today to have the first peace troops in warring Liberia by the start of next week, and said President Charles Taylor would go into exile three days later.

The pledge came at a summit of West African heads of state in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, as pressure grew on regional leaders to speed up a peace force promised since rebels opened two months of bloody siege on Liberia’s capital in early June.

A vanguard force, expected to be two Nigerian battalions with about 1,500 men, would deploy by Monday, said Mohamed Ibn Chambas, executive secretary of the West African leaders’ bloc.

“The heads of states and government decided that the first task of the vanguard force should be to provide the appropriate conditions for the handover of power, and departure from Liberia of President Charles Taylor,” Chambas said.