Charles Taylor comments

["David Quarter" <davidquarter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From:           	petokraka78@xxxxxxx

Hey all,  just watched the live press-conference given by Charles Taylor a few moments ago (of course, CNN didn't find it necessary to air the broadcast, although CBC did carry it, followed by an almost mocking discussion afterwards). In the speech (which I caught late) Taylor made the following comments:  - Liberia was the victim of foreign aggression - Liberian sovereignty was being violated, but that he was stepping down in the interest of peace, however, Taylor warned that the Constitution, Parliament and Supreme Court must not be toyed with further - he directly accused the West of supporting the rebels and bringing about the misery of the Liberian people - he half-jokingly told the tale of three cows (one white, one red, one black) and a lion - according to the story the lion has eaten all the antilopes on the savanah he approaches the three cows and sets two of the cows aside from the black cow, telling thim "You know I'm hungry, just let me eat that little black cow and I'll leave you alone" - the other two cows looked at the lion and each other and said "sure take him" so the lion eats the black cow, then he approaches the white cow and says "Your white, so you don't have to worry, let me just eat the red cow and I'll leave you alone" - the white cow looks at him and instantly responds "sure take it" - so now the lion again approaches the white cow, which answers "But I though you said...", the lion justs looks at him and says "You should have known, now its too late for you" - Taylor then said that Africa was at a cross-roads, that decisions on the continent are no longer being made in African capitals but in foreign capitals. He warned that he was like the black cow in the story, and that he hoped that he would be the last, but that the lion was hungry - Taylor accused powerful countries of seeking to impose One World Government on the peoples of the world that would ignore the wishes, sovereignty and self-determination of Africans - he thanked African leaders for offering their support, but warned them that they will have to act in Africa's interest in the future - he joked about Mbeki taking orders, and then - all in good spirits - guilt tripped him about Liberia's role and his role in supporting the ANC, opposing apartheid, etc. (even at a time when Western nations were justifying the racist system) - he thanked Obasanjo and Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (who Taylor fought in the mid-1990s) and everyone who thought they could do a better job - he said he thought Bush was a good man, surrounded by lies everywhere and that he hoped God would reveal the truth to him eventually (this was probably a sarcastic reference to the revelation that Bush thought God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq) - He again warned that the Constitution, Parliament and Supreme Court of Liberia should remain untouched, and said that history would judge who was right  anyway, I don't know if all this will come out in the press wires, but just wanted to jot it down while it was still fresh in my mind  cheers! Kole ;-)