Liberian leader accepts asylum in Nigeria
Asylum in Nigeria?? What, Charles Taylor couldn't do better than a country that is also on the edge of disintegrating? This makes about as much sense of going on vacation in central Iowa.
Taylor -- who is under intense international pressure to step down, is holed up in a capital surrounded by rebels and faces trial on war crimes -- made the announcement after talks in Monrovia airport with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
"I thank my big brother for coming," he said, referring to Obasanjo. "He has extended an invitation and we have accepted an invitation."
But, Taylor said, "it is not unreasonable to request that there be an orderly exit from power." He said U.S. participation in an international peacekeeping force planned for Liberia was "crucial."
Taylor and Obasanjo would not say when the Liberian president would step down, but both warned that too hasty a departure could spark new fighting in the West African nation, where hundreds were killed in a failed rebel push into the capital last month.
All right; someone clue me in here...how does one exit from chaos in an orderly fashion? Your fifteen minutes are up, Mr. Taylor. Why not just leave and spare the lives of a few more of your countrymen? Or is staying in power as long as possible worth a few more people dying?
