Liberian talks continue amid fighting

MONROVIA, Liberia - Rebel and government negotiators deliberated Wednesday about who will lead a transitional government for Liberia, while aid workers warned that fighting in the north threatened tens of thousands of refugees.

The debate and persistent fighting outside Liberia's capital come two days after Liberia's warring sides signed a power-sharing deal to end 14 years of conflict. President Charles Taylor cleared the way for the deal when he ceded power and took exile in Nigeria.

At talks in Accra, Ghana, delegates of the two rebel movements and Liberia's government considered three candidates to lead the power-sharing government.

The most widely known, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, lost 1997 elections to Taylor and has lived in exile since.

Under the peace deal, the combatants agreed not to seek the interim government's top posts themselves. Instead, they will pick from a list of nominees submitted by political parties and civic groups.

The interim government is to take power from Taylor's designated successor, former Vice President Moses Blah, in October. That government will yield to an elected government in 2005.

Mediators had hoped to have the top posts - chairman and vice chairman - by Wednesday evening. They later extended the deadline to today.

In Monrovia, the French aid group Medecins sans Frontieres expressed concern Wednesday for 60,000 refugees living in northern Bong country. Refugee camps there were just 25 miles from the front lines, the aid group said.

While calm has held in Liberia's capital since deployment of a West African peace force two weeks ago, rebels and government forces have continued fighting in the countryside.

Relief trickling into Liberia so far has been confined to the capital, and the peace force has yet to move into the countryside.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright