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Liberian rebels to take role in interim governmentDeal with U.N. negotiators to be signed Monday
ACCRA, Ghana (CNN) -- Liberian rebels have reached an agreement with U.N. negotiators that will give them a role in the transitional government that is to take over in October, U.N. officials said Sunday. The pact likely will be signed Monday -- one week after President Charles Taylor stepped down -- and might lead to democratic elections, the officials said. At talks in Accra, rebel groups who had been fighting Taylor's government conceded the positions of president and vice president. However, they asked for the right to advance candidates for deputy speaker of the legislature, and also want that body slightly enlarged, the officials said. The U.N. and West African peacekeepers in Liberia had told the rebels that they could not hold the presidency and vice presidency. The rebels contended that unless they get a voice in the government, they might not be able to persuade their supporters to disarm. Earlier this month, the main rebel group -- Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, or LURD -- rejected President Moses Blah's offer of the vice presidency. Instead, the rebels said they wanted one of their own to serve as president in the interim government that will replace Blah in October. Taylor surrendered power to Blah last week before leaving Liberia for exile in Nigeria. The transitional government that will replace him is expected to be in power about two years. Earlier Sunday, rebel leaders and government officials agreed to allow humanitarian aid into all parts of war-torn Liberia, and the rebels said they would help guarantee the safety of the aid workers. Jacques Klein, the top U.N. official for Liberia, called the agreement a "significant step" in helping the nation wracked by civil war. The agreement was signed by the two main rebel groups, LURD and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia. Humanitarian aid has been trickling into Monrovia, but the humanitarian situation in rural areas is a larger concern, Rich Moseanko of World Vision told CNN. A ship loaded with World Vision supplies was arriving soon from Sierra Leone, he said. "As the aid comes in, the situation will stabilize," Moseanko added. There is still a severe fuel problem, however, with gas prices down to $15 a gallon, half of what they were. Meanwhile, more than 100 more Nigerian soldiers have arrived in Liberia -- bringing the West African stabilization force there to nearly 1,000 troops. The U.N. World Food Programme distributed 40 tons of aid, as thousands of Liberians flooded into Monrovia on Saturday, seeking food, water and lost relatives. But fighting between government and rebel forces continues in other parts of the country. Aid workers crossed the 25-year-old Gabriel Tucker Bridge over the Mesurado River on Saturday to begin repairing the damage done to their warehouses and facilities during the rebel assault on Monrovia. -- CNN correspondent Jeff Koinange and journalist Kwaku Sakyi Addo contributed to this report.
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