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.