Liberian President Charles Taylor promised Sunday that he would step down and leave his country as Liberians hope his departure will bring peace to their war-torn nation.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, Ghanaian President John Kufuor and Mozambican President Joachim Chissano are expected in the Liberian capital of Monrovia on Monday to attend the handover ceremony.

Diplomats in Monrovia said Taylor was expected to leave Liberia with other African leaders.

On Sunday, in a televised farewell address to the nation, Taylor said he will sacrifice his presidency to stop bloodshed in his country.

Taylor accused the United States of forcing his stepdown, saying he was being forced into exile and hoped to return some day.

"I am stepping down from this office of my own volition. No one can take credit for asking me to step down. I did not want to leave this country. I can say I have been forced by the world's superpower," said Taylor in the speech.

Taylor said he did not stop fighting because of fright and he loved his country.

"I must stop fighting now. I do not stop out of fear of the fight. I stop now out of love for you," he said in the address to the Liberian people. "For me it is no longer important that I fight. What is important is that you live and there is peace."

"I love this country very much," he said. "This is why I have decided to sacrifice my presidency. As I look at people dying, I must stop fighting."

Taylor is expected to leave for Calabar, a leading seaport city in southeast Nigeria. Nigerian media reported Friday that a three-story building had been completed exclusively for Taylor.

However, there also have been reports that Taylor might have chosen Libya rather than Nigeria as his haven.

The Liberian president is apparently facing a hostile reception from segments of the Nigerian society for the killing of two Nigerian journalists who had gone to cover the crisis in his country in the mid-1990s.

Taylor's apology over the issue has not gone down well with Nigerians, especially the journalists' union which had challenged Taylor's asylum in court.

Taylor, a former warlord, was elected president of Liberia in August 1997. He has been indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed special court in Sierra Leone.

International aid agencies in Monrovia warned that Taylor's resignation could trigger a wave of looting and violence between his desperate loyalists and the advancing rebels.

They said Monrovia continued to face a severe shortage of food, medicine and water, adding that a humanitarian catastrophe is looming large.

The Liberian civil war, which lasted more than 14 years and claimed at least 200,000 lives, flared up again in 1998 following attacks launched by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy in northern Liberia.

Civil war over the past decade has made Liberia among the most miserable places in the world and the latest unrest since 1998 has forced some 300,000 Liberians to flee to neighboring countries and left thousands more dead.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2003)