Vice President quits as Taylor claims coup attempt

A day after his indictment by a UN-backed Special Court for war crimes, Liberian President Charles Taylor told reporters in the capital, Monrovia, that he had foiled a coup attempt, accepted the resignation of the Vice President and would ask his entire cabinet to resign next week. "We have accepted the resignation of the Vice President [Moses Zeh Blah]. He will explain to the Liberian people in a few days what prompted the action," Taylor told reporters at the presidential palace. Senior security sources had earlier told IRIN that the vice-president's security detail had been withdrawn. Taylor who attended the official start of peace talks between his government and rebels in Ghana on Wednesday, said the coup attempt involved some of his senior officials, top military commanders and a foreign mission in Liberia. He did not name them in his 10-minute address. "Some agents managed to persuade certain senior government officials to stage a coup d'etat to prevent my return. Contacts were made by a certain embassy with some senior military officers who refused," Taylor said on Thursday. "The attempt was foiled." Wearing a white suit and dark glasses, Taylor announced that his entire cabinet would resign to pave the way for a government of national unity. "I went to Accra in search of peace. I will continue to pursue peace in the interest of Liberian people. I have seen too much bloodshed [and] will make sacrifices for Liberia to survive, Taylor said. "Next week, I will ask my entire cabinet to resign." Taylor said he stood by his statement in Ghana on Wednesday that he would step down from the presidency at the end of his present seven-year term in January. "Some people believe that Taylor is the problem. I will remove myself from whatever process that continues to perpetuate conflict in Liberia," he said in Accra. "If it would bring peace, I will remove myself as president...Let a process be put in place that will ensure a smooth transition from war to peace." Taylor said on Thursday that heavy fighting was continuing in Bomi county, just to the northwest of Monrovia, where Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels have been advancing on the capital. But Taylor added that he would fight back to defend the Liberian people. The Liberian leader described his indictment for war crimes by Sierra Leone's Special Court as a political manoeuvre. Taylor said the court, which has accused him of backing rebels in Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war, had no mandate over Liberia. "Calling a president of Liberia a war criminal is political. God himself will not allow it to happen," he said. He thanked Presidents John Kufuor of Ghana, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa for "standing up against my arrest." Sierra Leone's Special Court sent a warrant for Taylor's arrest to Ghana on Wednesday as the Liberian leader was arriving there to attend the formal opening of peace talks. But Ghanaian foreign minister, Nana Akuffo-Addo, told reporters in Accra that the government had not received any formal request for Taylor to be detained. However the court insisted that: "All the relevant documents were served personally on the Ghanaian High Commissioner in Freetown." Copies, it added, were electronically transmitted to the Ghana foreign ministry where a senior official received them. David Crane, the court prosecutor said Taylor had fled Ghana as "an international fugitive." Expressing disappointment at the Ghanaian government's failure to arrest him, Crane said: "I regret that the international community has disappointed the people of Sierra Leone and West Africa. Instead of delivering a strong message about accountability, they provided weak excuses. Any nation that finds Taylor within its borders is legally bound to execute (the warrant)." Crane added: "The fight to bring this indicted war criminal to justice has begun. It will not end until the people of Sierra Leone and West Africa see him in a courtroom." Human rights groups welcomed the indictment and the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Betrand Ramcharan said he supported the court's move. Ramcharan said the indictment was highly significant and urged Liberia's leaders to uphold international human rights and humanitarian law. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the move to have the Liberian president tried in Freetown advanced the cause of justice. "Taylor should be arrested by any country he travels to, now that his indictment has been announced," Peter Takirambudde, executive director of HRW's Africa Division said. "Taylor is one of the single greatest causes of spreading wars in West Africa. His indictment is a tremendous step forward, but his arrest would be even better." Amnesty International urged Ghana to arrest Taylor as soon as the indictment was announced.