Charles Taylor, the former warlord blamed for nearly 14 years of bloodshed in Liberia and indicted on war crimes in Sierra Leone, stepped down as president today.
| Hurrah! Where's my shootin' arn? Want some candy, little kid? Pardon me, while I ululate... |
Rebels besieging the capital threatened to resume fighting if Taylor did not leave the country immediately after handing over to his vice president, Moses Blah.
| They should be back to shooting it out any time now. It was nice while it lasted, wasn't it? Was it good for you, too? |
Mr Taylor looked on as President Blah was sworn into office in front of African leaders who said his departure marked the end of an era of bloodshed in Liberia. Placing his left hand on the Bible and his right hand in the air, he pledged to "faithfully, conscientiously and impartially discharge the duties and functions of the Republic of Liberia."
| "I have called up the 334th Heavy Bustier Brigade as reinforcements..." |
Addressing about 300 Liberian and other dignitaries gathered in a velvet-draped room, Ghana's President John Kufuor said President Blah would hand over to a transitional government on the second Tuesday of October.
| "Just as soon as he's done packing it with his own gunnies..." |
"Today's ceremony marks the end of an era in Liberia," President Kufuor said, speaking as head of a West African bloc that has sent peacekeepers to Liberia. "It is our expectation that today the war in Liberia has ended."
| Meanwhile, back at the front... |
Pickup trucks full of armed rebels raced toward the front as insurgents threatened to resume fighting if Taylor stays in the country after turning over power. "Unless Taylor leaves the country by one minute past 12 noon, I shall attack," rebel Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Abdulla Seyeah Sheriff said from Monrovia's rebel-held island port area. "If Taylor leaves the country, there'll be peace."
| Except that he's not taking his favorite gunnies with him... |
Mr Taylor has accepted an offer of asylum in Nigeria, but he has also hedged on when he will go.
| My guess is that tar and feathers will be required... |
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