AKOSOMBO, Ghana, June 13 (UPI) -- West African leaders are trying to get warring Liberian parties to sign a cease-fire agreement during peace talks in Ghana.
Both the rebels and the Liberian government gave their assurances they will stop fighting, the mediators said. But getting the two sides to sign the actual document is another matter.
In a catch-22, the Voice of America says envoys in Akosombo from two rebel groups called for the president, Charles Taylor, to step down, but Taylor said his safety and that of his supporters has to be guaranteed first. If their welfare is guaranteed, Taylor said he would step down when his term ends next year. Otherwise, he said, "there will be a bloodbath in Monrovia," the capital of Liberia.
Taylor, charged for war crimes by a United Nations-backed court in Sierra Leone, also said the warrant for his arrest should be dropped.
