Military

DATE=8/2/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=LIBERIA/PRESIDENT (L)

NUMBER=2-306112

BYLINE=SARAH SIMPSON

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: West African envoys meeting with Liberian President Charles Taylor say he has agreed to cede power on August 11th. The envoys from the regional body, ECOWAS, were meeting with Mr. Taylor to discuss deployment of peacekeepers in the country and his departure from power. Sarah Simpson reports from V-O-A's west Africa Bureau in Abidjan that fighting in the capital intensified as the meeting took place.

TEXT: Representatives from ECOWAS finally met Saturday with the Liberian president to discuss his departure from office and exit from the country. Outside the gunfire continued as government and rebel forces clashed again in more heavy fighting.

The ECOWAS envoys arrived in Monrovia Friday, and were expecting to hold meetings with President Taylor that same day, but he failed to show up. Mr. Taylor was reportedly in Liberia's second city, Buchanan, where government forces were tackling a rebel offensive.

In Monrovia Saturday, machine-gun and rifle fire broke out around mid-morning, and Liberian government forces were reported to have stormed three key bridges to open the way for an attack on a key port held by rebels.

At an ECOWAS summit Thursday, member states called for President Taylor's departure from office and from Liberia within three days of peacekeepers arriving in the country.

Since that announcement, Liberian ministers have stressed the need for an interim government to be put in place, as well as the peacekeepers before President Taylor leaves office.

Nigeria, the biggest power in the region, is providing the bulk of the peacekeeping force. Some 15-hundred Nigerian troops are expected in Monrovia Monday to begin peacekeeping operations.

Nigeria has also offered President Taylor asylum.

Mr. Taylor has made repeated promises to leave Liberia when peacekeepers are installed. However, rebel leaders have remained openly skeptical of the president's intentions. (SIGNED)

NEB/SS/ALW/TW