Liberia Rebels Sign Truce; Political Effect Unclear

Liberian rebels signed a cease-fire agreement Wednesday, but a West African summit ended without a clear-cut political settlement to the country’s 11-month civil war.

Rebel leader Charles Taylor embraced some of his bitterest enemies after accepting an immediate cease-fire.

The ceremony was hailed as a breakthrough by leaders at the summit of the Economic Community of West African States.

But Taylor at once made it clear that he does not recognize the interim government installed in Monrovia, the Liberian capital.

“The document that we signed states very clearly that no group in Liberia is recognized as an interim government,” he told a news conference.

After 11 months of fighting, Taylor and his foes agreed to join other Liberian groups in talks on political arrangements before free elections.

Interim President Amos Sawyer, sworn in only one week ago in Monrovia as part of a West African community peace plan agreed to in August, appeared the biggest loser at the Bamako summit.

A statement issued at the end of the summit referred to a “future interim government”--effectively disowning Sawyer’s.

The cease-fire accord was also signed by representatives of the two other warring factions--Prince Johnson’s Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia and the Armed Forces of Liberia of former President Samuel K. Doe, who was killed by Johnson’s men in September.

These two groups are allied to a Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force sent to Liberia in August.

Johnson’s group underscored the confusion over Liberia’s political leadership, saying that it supports Sawyer.

Taylor, making V-for-victory signs, looked pleased at the outcome of the first extraordinary summit in the 15-year history of the West African economic group.

Apart from not recognizing Sawyer, he said he would remain in charge of the territory under his control, which he puts at 90% of the country.

Cease-fire details have yet to be worked out.