Bush promises Marines to leave Liberia by Oct. 1

CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush pledged yesterday that American forces would be out of Liberia by Oct. 1 as the Liberian government and rebels signed a peace accord to end a bloody three-year insurgency.

“It’s short-term,” Mr. Bush told Armed Forces Network in an interview he gave Thursday but that was made public yesterday. “We have a special obligation in Liberia to help with humanitarian aid. And therefore we will.”

The president said: “We’ll be out of there by October the 1st. We’ve got U.N. blue-helmeted troops ready to replace our limited number of troops.”

The promise addresses fears that U.S. forces, committed to long-term deployments in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, would face an open-ended mission in Liberia, where 200 Marines were deployed last week.

The release of the president’s remarks came as Liberia’s government and the rebels signed a peace deal.

Calm settled into the Liberian capital, Monrovia, and shopkeepers opened for the first time in a month, the Associated Press reported.

The accord, signed in Accra, Ghana, calls for a two-year power-sharing government, meant to lead Liberia into elections and out of 14 years of conflict brought on by ousted President Charles Taylor.

The two rebel movements — Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia — signed, along with representatives of Liberia’s post-Taylor government.

Under the deal, all three waive any claim to the top posts in the interim government, yielding control to noncombatants.

“I want to believe that with the signing of this agreement today, Liberia will never be plunged into another spiral of violence in the quest for political power or under the false pretense of liberating the people,” said retired Nigerian Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, chief mediator for the talks.

“Liberians do not need liberators anymore. Liberians need developers and nation-builders,” he said.

Ghana’s president, John Kufuor, was on hand for the agreement, which had representatives of the United Nations, European Union and African Union sign as witnesses.

The United States has had an influential delegation at the talks and signed as witnesses to a June 17 cease-fire accord, but it says West Africa must take the lead in Liberia.

The deal comes a week after the resignation of Mr. Taylor, who flew into exile at the demand of rebels, West African leaders and the United States.

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