Johannesburg — Charles Taylor, the former Liberian rebel leader and recently indicted war crimes suspect, stepped down as president of Liberia on Monday and handed power to his vice president, Moses Blah.
In a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia, with three African heads of state in attendance, Taylor told the assembled dignitaries "I leave you with these parting words - God willing, I will be back".
President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, the current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), announced that Blah would himself hand over to a transitional government in October. "Today's ceremony marks the end of an era in Liberia," Kufuor said. "It is our expectation that today the war in Liberia has ended".
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, who also attended the ceremony in Monrovia, said: "It is indeed a shameful thing that, as Africans, we have killed ourselves for such a long time. It is indeed time that this war should come to an end". South Africa will be contributing troops to the African peacekeeping force that began deploying in Liberia last week, Mbeki announced.
Mbeki, the outgoing chairman of the African Union, was accompanied to Monrovia by the current AU chair, Mozambican President Joachim Chissano. The Togolese prime minister, Koffi Sama, was also present in Monrovia for the ceremony.
Dressed in a white safari suit, Taylor said he hoped the people of Liberia would now enjoy peace in their country. "There are two things that I want for the people of Liberia, one that they live, two that they see peace. Today for me is a day of moving forward. We must put the past behind us".
The departing leader continued to depict himself as a "sacrificial lamb" and "whipping boy" in his handover speech, which was replete with Bible references and African proverbs. Speaking confidently of his time in office, Taylor said "history will be kind to me. I have fulfilled my duties in the interest of the Liberian people."
However, he leaves behind a legacy of violence, disorder and economic collapse after almost 14 years of chaos - six years in power as an elected president, following a seven-year civil war which he launched in late 1989. He has also contributed to destabilising the region, fuelling wars across his borders in at least three neighbouring countries, prompting his West African counterparts and the United States government to put pressure on him to resign, to allow Liberians to rebuild their shattered nation.
Taylor thanked Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo for his offer of asylum and exile. Obasanjo was not among the leaders in Monrovia. He sent his foreign minister, Olu Adeniji.
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As he took office as Liberia's 22nd president in more than 150 years, Blah pledged to "faithfully, conscientiously and impartially discharge the duties and functions of the Republic of Liberia". Liberia's new leader called on rebel factions to join negotiations with the government and end the war. "You have no further excuse not to join the peace wagon," said Blah.
Rebels had earlier rejected Taylor's choice of his long-term ally and comrade-in-arms Blah as successor, insisting that a neutral candidate be selected to oversee the transition to democratic elections in Liberia.
Liberia's new president said his country was ready to smoke the peace pipe with Washington, with which Monrovia has had strained relations in recent years. Taylor accused the United States of using economic blackmail to get rid of him and warned other leaders that they could be next.
