Six ships carrying 3,000 West African soldiers sailed from here today to enforce a cease-fire in Liberia, where a 10,000-man rebel army has rejected a proposed truce. The West African Economic Community, which dispatched the soldiers, emphasized that the force was on a peaceful mission to halt the eight-month civil war. An estimated 5,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting. The fleet could reach Monrovia, the capital, as early as Friday morning.
A rebel leader, Charles Taylor, assailed the plan as a maneuver to keep President Samuel K. Doe in power. Mr. Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia is the largest of the three armies fighting for control of this West African nation of 2.5 million. The leader of another rebel group, Prince Johnson, and the forces loyal to President Doe have accepted the proposal for a truce. Mr. Johnson's rebels and Mr. Doe's army are in control of the capital, and Mr. Taylor's force controls most of the rest of Liberia. It was unclear whether the West African peacekeeping force will enter Monrovia when it arrives or wait offshore for more negotiations to bring about a truce. Its commander, Lieut. Gen. Arnold Quainoo of Ghana, has said he does not want to risk entering Liberia until all sides agreed to stop fighting.
Peace talks are to resume on Monday, but Mr. Taylor has not said whether he will send envoys. Troops from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Guinea have been assembling for weeks. Togo had said it would send troops, but did not. Efforts to persuade Mr. Taylor to accept a role by the force collapsed on Wednesday after his representatives and West African leaders conferred for two days in Banjul, Gambia.
The Gambian leader, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, chairman of the West African organization, issued a statement that said Mr. Taylor was responsible for the failure of the talks. It said the West African group agreed at the meeting to meet Mr. Taylor's demands for an initial 10-day truce, but that Mr. Taylor's delegates backed off when they learned that Mr. Doe and Mr. Johnson had agreed. Mr. Taylor said he was concerned that hundreds of the soldiers were provided by Nigeria and Guinea, whose leaders have in the past supported Mr. Doe. Mr. Taylor led his forces into Liberia from Ivory Coast in December, saying that Mr. Doe's Government was corrupt and he would oust it.
Mr. Taylor has refused to allow thousands of Nigerians and Guineans caught behind his lines on Monrovia's eastern outskirts to leave the country. His spokesman, Tom Woewiyu, said Tuesday that the rebels would ''fight to the last man'' against the West African soldiers. "There are enough guns floating around in Liberia," Mr. Woewiyu said. "For a group of people to come to Liberia with even bigger guns is like putting an explosive in a fire."
Mr. Taylor reportedly said this week that outside intervention would leave him free to call on whatever forces he pleased for help. He has denied charges by the United States and by Mr. Johnson, who was formerly his chief commander, that his rebels were trained and armed by Libya and Burkina Faso. West African leaders decided to intervene on Aug. 6. They have argued that the war is no longer an internal conflict because thousands of their citizens are trapped in Liberia and about 400,000 Liberian refugees are burdening neighboring countries.
Source: New York Times
