LIBERIA President hands over power

Some residents postponed celebrations until the resignation was official.
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- President Charles Taylor, blamed for 14 years of bloodshed in Liberia and indicted for war crimes in Sierra Leone, resigned and surrendered power to his vice president.
It remained unclear, however, when -- or if -- Taylor would go into exile in Nigeria as promised, and rebels besieging the capital, Monrovia, threatened more violence if the former warlord does not leave the country immediately.
Pushed to resign by the United States and West African leaders, Taylor declared today that history would judge him kindly, speaking at his long-awaited resignation ceremony in Liberia's war-blasted capital.
Taylor, who had reneged on past promises to resign, began his farewell address by exhorting the international community to help Liberia. "We beg of you, we plead with you not to make this another press event."
"History will be kind to me. I have fulfilled my duties," he said, adding, "I have accepted this role as the sacrificial lamb ... I am the whipping boy."
Sworn in
Wearing a white safari suit and carrying his trademark staff, Taylor looked on as successor Moses Blah was sworn in under heavy security. Steel blinds guarded windows against assassination attempts, like a 1996 try on Taylor's life in the same building where two aides were killed.
Placing his left hand on the Bible and raising his right, Blah pledged to "faithfully, conscientiously and impartially discharge the duties and functions of the Republic of Liberia."
Rebels have rejected Taylor's choice of successor -- a longtime ally and comrade in arms -- and demanded that a neutral candidate be chosen to preside over a transition government until elections can be held.
Inside a velvet-draped room in the Executive Mansion, Ghana's President John Kufuor told about 300 Liberian and other dignitaries that Blah would hand power to a transitional government in October.
"Today's ceremony marks the end of an era in Liberia," Kufuor said, speaking as head of a West African bloc that has sent peacekeepers to Liberia. "It is our expectation that today the war in Liberia has ended.
He also said South Africa would be contributing troops to the West African force, which started deploying last week.
Relieved
Outside, Monrovia's beleaguered people cheered Nigerian peacekeepers, part of a vanguard peace force meant to build to 3,250 West African soldiers. The crowd was reserving celebrations over Taylor's expected resignation until it was official.
"I can hardly believe it. He has brought too much suffering on the Liberian people," said Henry Philips, 38, a former security official. "His absence is better than his presence."
Taylor had pledged to hand over power at one minute before noon (7:59 a.m. EDT) but was delayed at the airport where he welcomed Kufour, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano and Togolese Prime Minister Koffi Sama.
Pickup trucks full of armed rebels raced toward the front today as insurgents threatened to resume fighting if Taylor stays in the country. While he has accepted an asylum offer in Nigeria, he has hedged on when he will go.
"Unless Taylor leaves the country by one minute past 12 noon, I shall attack," rebel Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Abdulla Seyeah Sheriff said from Monrovia's rebel-held island port area. "If Taylor leaves the country, there'll be peace."
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo did not attend the resignation ceremony, but sent his foreign minister. Obasanjo aides said Taylor was expected today in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Two months of intermittent rebel sieges have left over 1,000 civilians dead in Monrovia, as government and insurgent forces duel with the city of 1.3 million as their battlefield. The war has left Taylor controlling little but downtown, referred to derisively by rebels as Taylor's "Federal Republic of Central Monrovia."
The president remained defiant to the end, on Sunday calling the rebel uprising an "American war" and suggesting it was motivated by U.S. eagerness for Liberia's gold, diamonds and other reserves.
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