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Liberia Waits For Next Move Now That Taylor Has Agreed To Leave
Aired July 04, 2003 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Liberia in crisis. The president of the west African country agreed to give up power today and leave his country. But Charles Taylor out a condition on his departure. He wants international peacekeepers in place first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES TAYLOR, PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA: Before I (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I think it is important that peacekeepers be present.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well let's bring in CNN's Jeff Koinange in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. He joins us via videophone. And, Jeff, you recently spoke with the president. What is he saying?
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right after that speech he gave, Fredricka, he spoke to us and I asked him has he agreed to that asylum request in Nigeria. He said, Let's not call it asylum. Asylum is a harsh word. Let's call it a soft landing.
So right away he did not discount the rumors at all. In fact he went on to say Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is due here in Monrovia Sunday to discuss the issue further.
I then went on to ask him when are you stepping down? He said, I will step down as soon as the peacekeepers arrive because, in his own words, if Taylor leaves now, Monrovia will be on fire. He went on to say there are too many people with too many guns, and once they realize that their leader has left they will turn to the local population and they will create a lot of mayhem and confusion and destruction.
So he wants peacekeepers here on the ground. He wants them sooner than later. Basically, Fredricka, he has thrown the ball right back in the court of the U.S. government.
WHITFIELD: Well, Jeff, this is a democratic nation, but dare anyone step forward to succeed President Taylor?
KOINANGE: There are a lot of people. A lot of people in the wind. Many opposition parties. In fact part of them are meeting in the Ghanian city of Akosombo, meeting to discuss a transitional government after Taylor.
If he was to leave today there would definitely be a power vacuum because you would have all these people gunning for the presidency vowing for power. There would definitely be a lot of volleying for power. And in the meantime, the militias, especially Taylor's people who are so well armed, who have been fighting for most of the last decade and a half, know nothing more than guns and bullets, they would be ruling the streets. It would be a terrible situation. A lot of anarchy.
So right then, that's why he feels peacekeepers must step in, restore law and order and bring some semblance of security -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: But then would the expectation be that these peacekeepers if they were to get in place they would also act as governing bodies there if indeed Charles Taylor were to step down as he promises once the peacekeepers get in place?
KOINANGE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) once the peacekeepers come in, first they restore law and order. Then hopefully then they start the disarmament program where they disarm all the troops, all the militia.
In the meantime a transitional government will be put in place. One leader will be picked from out of the other parties, and then they will decide. This is the person who would lead the country for an interim, maybe six, three months. Six months, nine months.
After that they will hold elections and elect a person (ph) who everyone selects. That's the way they want it to go. Hopefully that will happen but again those peacekeepers must arrive, got to arrive sooner than later -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. So, Jeff, who picks that interim leader and how would that process go about?
KOINANGE: The various parties would all agree on that one person who will lead the country. Right now they are meeting in the Ghanian town of Akosombo. It includes the rebels who are trying to oust Mr. Taylor, it includes Liberian opposition parties who have been opposed to Mr. Taylor for a long time but hadn't had a voice.
Now they are sitting around a table talking, sitting around a table talking. They're the ones who will they will pick that transitional government.
Of course the peacekeepers or whoever's running the peacekeeping force would agree to this interim leader, hopefully they would have a say in that. Once that leader is put in place, three, six months later, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) an election time frame, hold the elections. And then that leader would step aside and the new person elected would be the new president of Liberia -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And correct me if I'm wrong of what I thought I just heard you say, the time line we are talking about three and six months for this kind of transitional period.
KOINANGE: That's what normally takes for a transitional government to take effect because they have to disarm the population, they have to remobilize, they have to get them on some kind of force in place. The civilian population must return to their homes.
And the in a whole election campaign must take part. Takes about six months at most -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Jeff, what are Liberian civilians saying about all this? We know from some reports that many had expressed outside the U.S. embassy they wanted the U.S. to intervene. But overall how are they reacting to Charles Taylor's words of stepping down on a certain condition?
KOINANGE: Very mixed fortunes right now. Obviously some of them don't want their leader, the person who they have known as their leader for the longest time to leave. But at the same time they realize that he may be the problem. That's why you saw those hundreds of people demonstrating outside the U.S. embassy saying President Taylor must leave.
But there are others who are saying if he does leave this town will be in even more mayhem and anarchy than they've ever seen ever before. In fact, they (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that Monrovia would be on fire.
So very mixed feelings right now. The most important thing is they if Mr. Taylor does go they do want him to go and have a soft landing. They don't want him to sit in some prison some where. They don't want him to be indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal. They want him to have a soft landing somewhere where he can live the rest of his life in retirement -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jeff Koinange from Monrovia, joining us via videophone, thank you very much for that very comprehensive report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired July 4, 2003 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Liberia in crisis. The president of the west African country agreed to give up power today and leave his country. But Charles Taylor out a condition on his departure. He wants international peacekeepers in place first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES TAYLOR, PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA: Before I (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I think it is important that peacekeepers be present.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well let's bring in CNN's Jeff Koinange in the Liberian capital of Monrovia. He joins us via videophone. And, Jeff, you recently spoke with the president. What is he saying?
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right after that speech he gave, Fredricka, he spoke to us and I asked him has he agreed to that asylum request in Nigeria. He said, Let's not call it asylum. Asylum is a harsh word. Let's call it a soft landing.
So right away he did not discount the rumors at all. In fact he went on to say Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is due here in Monrovia Sunday to discuss the issue further.
I then went on to ask him when are you stepping down? He said, I will step down as soon as the peacekeepers arrive because, in his own words, if Taylor leaves now, Monrovia will be on fire. He went on to say there are too many people with too many guns, and once they realize that their leader has left they will turn to the local population and they will create a lot of mayhem and confusion and destruction.
So he wants peacekeepers here on the ground. He wants them sooner than later. Basically, Fredricka, he has thrown the ball right back in the court of the U.S. government.
WHITFIELD: Well, Jeff, this is a democratic nation, but dare anyone step forward to succeed President Taylor?
KOINANGE: There are a lot of people. A lot of people in the wind. Many opposition parties. In fact part of them are meeting in the Ghanian city of Akosombo, meeting to discuss a transitional government after Taylor.
If he was to leave today there would definitely be a power vacuum because you would have all these people gunning for the presidency vowing for power. There would definitely be a lot of volleying for power. And in the meantime, the militias, especially Taylor's people who are so well armed, who have been fighting for most of the last decade and a half, know nothing more than guns and bullets, they would be ruling the streets. It would be a terrible situation. A lot of anarchy.
So right then, that's why he feels peacekeepers must step in, restore law and order and bring some semblance of security -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: But then would the expectation be that these peacekeepers if they were to get in place they would also act as governing bodies there if indeed Charles Taylor were to step down as he promises once the peacekeepers get in place?
KOINANGE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) once the peacekeepers come in, first they restore law and order. Then hopefully then they start the disarmament program where they disarm all the troops, all the militia.
In the meantime a transitional government will be put in place. One leader will be picked from out of the other parties, and then they will decide. This is the person who would lead the country for an interim, maybe six, three months. Six months, nine months.
After that they will hold elections and elect a person (ph) who everyone selects. That's the way they want it to go. Hopefully that will happen but again those peacekeepers must arrive, got to arrive sooner than later -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. So, Jeff, who picks that interim leader and how would that process go about?
KOINANGE: The various parties would all agree on that one person who will lead the country. Right now they are meeting in the Ghanian town of Akosombo. It includes the rebels who are trying to oust Mr. Taylor, it includes Liberian opposition parties who have been opposed to Mr. Taylor for a long time but hadn't had a voice.
Now they are sitting around a table talking, sitting around a table talking. They're the ones who will they will pick that transitional government.
Of course the peacekeepers or whoever's running the peacekeeping force would agree to this interim leader, hopefully they would have a say in that. Once that leader is put in place, three, six months later, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) an election time frame, hold the elections. And then that leader would step aside and the new person elected would be the new president of Liberia -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And correct me if I'm wrong of what I thought I just heard you say, the time line we are talking about three and six months for this kind of transitional period.
KOINANGE: That's what normally takes for a transitional government to take effect because they have to disarm the population, they have to remobilize, they have to get them on some kind of force in place. The civilian population must return to their homes.
And the in a whole election campaign must take part. Takes about six months at most -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Jeff, what are Liberian civilians saying about all this? We know from some reports that many had expressed outside the U.S. embassy they wanted the U.S. to intervene. But overall how are they reacting to Charles Taylor's words of stepping down on a certain condition?
KOINANGE: Very mixed fortunes right now. Obviously some of them don't want their leader, the person who they have known as their leader for the longest time to leave. But at the same time they realize that he may be the problem. That's why you saw those hundreds of people demonstrating outside the U.S. embassy saying President Taylor must leave.
But there are others who are saying if he does leave this town will be in even more mayhem and anarchy than they've ever seen ever before. In fact, they (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that Monrovia would be on fire.
So very mixed feelings right now. The most important thing is they if Mr. Taylor does go they do want him to go and have a soft landing. They don't want him to sit in some prison some where. They don't want him to be indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal. They want him to have a soft landing somewhere where he can live the rest of his life in retirement -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jeff Koinange from Monrovia, joining us via videophone, thank you very much for that very comprehensive report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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