July 2, 2003
A Liberian presidential envoy is to go to Nigeria "very soon" to discuss the situation in Liberia, a spokeswoman for Nigeria's head of state has said.
In Abuja, the Liberian foreign minister is to present President Charles Taylor's for resolving the crisis peacefully to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Remy Oyo told the BBC's Focus on Africa. Meanwhile, US President George W Bush - whose country is under pressure to send peacekeepers to Liberia - has repeated a call for Charles Taylor to leave the country so peace can be restored.
A senior member of the UN Security Council said on Wednesday that exile for Mr Taylor could be a means to end the civil war in Liberia. However, a spokesperson of the UN special war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, Tom Perrielo, has insisted that Mr Taylor should be prosecuted even if he goes into exile. The former warlord faces an indictment for war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he backed rebels in the war that ended in 2001.
But the British UN Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock said on a tour of West Africa that although the UN ruled out impunity for alleged war criminals, it understood that regional leaders had to take their own decisions. The UN ambassadors decided not to go to Monrovia on their tour because of security concerns.
'Brotherhood and co-operation'
Ms Oyo said that Nigeria - as the West African "big brother" - is keen to ensure that the crises that bedevil the sub-region are resolved peacefully. "The is a lot of brotherhood in Africa and all African leaders co-operate with each other", she said.
Mr Bush said earlier that the US was exploring all options in response to a request by the UN and several countries to send peacekeepers to police a ceasefire in Liberia. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has been instructed to discuss a possible mission with the UN. The American deliberations followed calls by UN Secretary Genera Kofi Annan, urging US to participate in a multilateral force in the war-torn Liberia.
Meanwhile, Liberians have been demonstrating outside the US Embassy in the capital, Monrovia, vowing to go on hunger strike until the US intervenes. Aid workers said they were struggling to help thousands of people displaced and injured during the fighting between the government and rebels. Up to 250,000 people fled to the city centre during two rebel assaults this month, which are reported to have left about 700 people dead. But some are now returning home after several days of relative calm.
Exile in Nigeria?
Senior UN diplomats in New York have been quoted as saying that President Taylor was secretly offered asylum in Nigeria but rejected it. Speaking in Abidjan on Tuesday, Sir Jeremy - who visited Nigeria over the weekend - said that it was up to President Obasanjo to make such an offer public. Sir Jeremy said that "whatever choices are made, within the region or anywhere else, impunity for those who commit gross abuses of human rights in any situation, will not be allowed". But he added that the UN recognises that "the leaders of the region have to take their own decisions, because like us they feel strongly for the suffering of the people of Liberia".
More Information on Liberia
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