[allAfrica.com] [Durham-Sanramon.org] President Taylor Defiant Over Peace Accord Vanguard (Lagos) NEWS June 23, 2003 Posted to the web June 23, 2003 Liberian President Charles Taylor has said he does not intend to step down before his term ends next year and may seek re-election - despite his exclusion from power under a peace deal with rebels. He was speaking in a radio broadcast just days after his government signed a ceasefire deal with rebels, which specifically excluded him from a proposed new government. Mr Taylor's position is seen as key to the future peace of Liberia, where fighting has spread chaos into neighbouring states. The United States called on Mr Taylor to abide by his commitment to stand down and said there was "no place" for him in the Liberian Government. "I said I was prepared to step aside," said Mr Taylor in his broadcast, emphasising "prepared". "I didn't say I was not going to run." Mr Taylor argued that he had a large following in Liberia and that many people in authority - like local chiefs - were protesting that he could not step aside without their approval. The ceasefire agreement reached in Ghana this week set a 30-day deadline for a comprehensive peace deal and transitional government without Mr Taylor. The president is an indicted war crimes suspect for his alleged role in the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone. At the time of the negotiations he also sought assurances that the indictment would be dropped if he were to step down. His latest threat to stay on met with a swift response from one of the rebel leaders, Eugene Wilson, who told the Associated Press it was "not an option". "Mr Taylor will step aside after a transitional agreement has been formed," he said. "This time around Mr Taylor will learn to respect and come to realise that it's not going to be his way, but the way of the Liberian people." Ceasefire monitors who will oversee the first phase of the Liberian peace accord are gathering in Ghana, ready to depart for Monrovia on Saturday. They will map the precise locations of the various sides in the Liberian conflict and report back to West African mediators by the end of the month. A West African-led peacekeeping force of at least 2,000 troops is due to oversee the peace accord once the locations of the various factions are verified. They will arrive in Liberia amid continuing tension despite the peace agreement signed in Ghana last week. There were chaotic scenes in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on Thursday when thousands of Ghanaians and Liberians tried to board a ship sent by Ghana to repatriate its nationals. Up to 800 people were eventually evacuated. Security guards fired in the air and used water hose to hold back a crowd of 5,000 people who stormed the ship, saying they were too afraid to stay in Liberia. Those who scrambled on board carried huge bundles and sacks. "I have to leave. There is no security for us here," said one man. "We are worn out. We were elbowing each other for hours," said one man who failed to make the journey. Shops and businesses have been gradually reopening in Monrovia but aid workers say tens of thousands of people are still living in abysmal conditions with very little food available. Alain Kassa, the local head of Medecins sans Frontieres, warned that the food shortages would cause further disaster. "The humanitarian situation is already catastrophic in Monrovia, especially since people have not been receiving regular supplies of food since March," he told the French news agency AFP. If more food was not distributed soon there would be "frightening malnutrition", he warned   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2003 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================