Crowds welcome Nigerian troops
Cheering crowds have welcomed the first Nigerian peacekeepers in Liberia.
Crowds lined the streets waving white flags and branches and chanting ‘we want peace’.
Expectations of the force are high, perhaps too high. The force is small, comprising only about 400 reasonably lightly armed men. They are currently also only able to operate in the Government held sector of Monrovia.
The rebels have refused to withdraw from their sector, claiming that they are waiting for Charles Taylor to fulfil his promise to leave the country.
He has been offered political asylum by the Nigerian government, but it appears that he is also seeking to have the indictment for war crimes dropped by the UN tribunal in Sierra Leone.
Taylor has also refused to say whether or not he would be taking up the offer of asylum, saying that his movements were a matter of security, though he told an America newsprogramme that he would be leaving the country on monday.
