MONROVIA, Aug 2: Liberian President Charles Taylor said on Saturday that he would step down on Aug 11, a week after west African peacekeepers arrive to try to end the bloodshed in his war-ravaged nation.

“At 11.59am on Monday (Aug 11) I will step down and the new guy will be sworn in,” he said, confirming an earlier statement by Ghana’s foreign minister.

He did not say who his successor might be.

“The first thing that must happen is that we have to convene an emergency session of the joint legislature. That should happen on Thursday (Aug 7),” he said.

The Ghanaian minister and other envoys from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had travelled to Monrovia to tell Mr Taylor to step down and head into exile.

UN authorizes force: The United Nations Security Council on Friday night passed a US-sponsored resolution for the formation of an international peacekeeping force in Liberia, ending weeks of uncertainty over the world’s commitment to ending war in the west African nation.

The 15-member council passed Resolution 1497 by a vote of 12-0 with three abstentions — France, Germany and Mexico, which refused to go along with a provision that would exempt US citizens in the force from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The resolution calls for formation of a “multinational force” to enforce a June 17 ceasefire agreement signed by government forces and two rebel groups seeking to overthrow President Charles Taylor.

It also authorizes preparation for a longer-term UN “stabilization force” to relieve the multinational force, and asks Secretary General Kofi Annan to submit recommendations on the size, structure and mandate of that force by Aug 15, for deployment no later than Oct 1.

In the meantime, the resolution authorizes soldiers deployed in a UN mission in neighbouring Sierra Leone to temporarily join other troops already committed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

A vanguard of up to 1,500 Nigerian troops — at least half of whom are from the UN Permanent Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) — is due to start arriving in Monrovia on Monday.

The UN called on member states to contribute troops and resources to the multinational force, while hailing ECOWAS for the role it has played thus far “and necessarily will continue to play in the Liberia peace process”.

ECOWAS leaders have mediated peace talks between Taylor and the rebels in Ghana and brokered the truce.

They also said at a crisis summit on Liberia on Friday that after the deployment of troops begins, President Taylor would have only three days to step down and leave for asylum in Nigeria.

The UN resolution says the two-tiered system of forces — first, a “multinational” one, then the UN “stabilization” one — should establish the conditions for disarming and demobilizing Liberia’s armed factions. It should also provide security following “the departure of the current president and the installation of a successor authority”.

Taylor previously refused to leave the country until peacekeepers had arrived on Liberian soil, saying he feared for civilians’ safety.

The UN resolution hit a diplomatic stumbling block over the added US proviso over immunity for its citizens.

The clause to which the three abstaining countries objected said: “Current or former officials or personnel from a contributing state, which is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of that contributing state for all alleged acts or omissions arising out of or related to the multinational force or UN stabilization force in Liberia, unless such exclusive jurisdiction has been expressly waived by that contributing state.”

The US delegation was adamant about that wording, even though the resolution contains no specific reference to a US role in the multinational force or the followup force.

US ambassador John Negroponte flatly refused to answer reporters’ questions regarding the controversial clause, saying: “It is for the president (George Bush) to decide. I have no comment on that.”

The Human Rights Watch immediately fired off a statement objecting to the inclusion of the immunity clause, saying “international peacekeepers in Liberia should not be granted immunity for the crimes they are trying to prevent.—AFP