Rebels besieging Monrovia will withdraw immediately from the Liberian capital once west African peacekeepers arrive on Monday, rebel leader Sekou Damate Conneh has said in Rome. "We are prepared to receive the peacekeepers in Liberia as soon as they deploy in the city and the port to save the civilians there. We are prepared to withdraw immediately," the head of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) told reporters.
| Don't do it, guys! Wait til you see what Chuck's back looks like, at least! |
As a first wave of Nigerian troops that will form the bulk of a peacekeeping force for Liberia arrived on Monday outside Monrovia, US Ambassador John Blaney said he believed the rebels would pull back.
| Yeah. But do you believe that Chuck's gonna go away? |
Mr Conneh also called on the international community "to put pressure on Charles Taylor to leave Liberia because he has promised to leave on several occasions but he never left".
He accused Mr Taylor's forces of shelling the civilian population and diplomatic headquarters in the Liberian capital. Taylor has vowed to leave the country on August 11, and Mr Conneh said the rebels would leave it to the peacekeepers to ensure that he does so. "If Taylor does not leave, the international community has forces on the ground and they can use them," Mr Conneh said.
| But do they have the guts to do so? More precisely, do the people who put them there have the guts to allow it? |
He told AFP later that his forces, which have been fighting against Taylor's government troops for almost five years, would "begin disarming as soon as we have an interim government". |