UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed Liberian President Charles Taylor's decision to leave the country although diplomats said the West African leader wanted 45 days to prepare his exit.
Mr Annan, in a statement issued by his spokeswoman Ms Hua Jiang, called Mr Taylor's statement yesterday accepting an offer of asylum in Nigeria "a significant turning point as Liberia strives to move from war to peace."
The secretary-general, currently in Switzerland, telephoned Mr Taylor on Thursday and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday and Friday, Ms Hua said, adding that Mr Annan was in touch with US Secretary of State Colin Powell almost daily.
When Mr Annan last spoke to Mr Taylor, the former guerrilla leader said he wanted until mid-August to clean up his affairs before leaving the country, diplomats said.
"He said he needed 45 days to get his life and affairs in order," said one envoy.
Another open question is whether asylum in Nigeria would include immunity from prosecution for war crimes. Mr Taylor has been indicted by a court in Sierra Leone, which the United Nations helped create, for fomenting a brutal civil war in that country.
Mr Annan hinted he was not excusing Taylor from any criminal charges. "The secretary-general reminds all concerned that they would be held individually and collectively accountable for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and war crimes," he said in the statement.