President's meeting with opposition leader aborts

A planned meeting between Liberian President Charles Taylor and opposition leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf failed to take place on Tuesday as scheduled, the Pan African News Agency (PANA) reported. Sirleaf arrived in Liberia at the weekend in response to an amnesty Taylor announced in July for opposition leaders whom he had accused of treason. PANA quoted Information Minister Reginald Goodridge as telling journalists in Monrovia that it was "not quite clear" why Johnson-Sirleaf did not turn up and that the government was "still looking forward to a meeting" of the two leaders. However, PANA quoted an official of Johnson-Sirleaf's Unity Party (UP) as saying the meeting did not take place because the "government dragged its feet" in responding to the party's request for it. He said Sirleaf left Liberia early on Tuesday for Dakar, Senegal, where she had been scheduled to attend a meeting. A diplomatic source told IRIN on Tuesday that although Sirleaf had not made any official statement since her return, she said on various occasions at her party's headquarters that she was grateful to the government for allowing her to go back and participate in the country's political process. The source said callers on 'DC Talk', a popular radio talk show, described her move as "very courageous" and one which should be emulated by those still in exile.