Nigerian authorities are warning that Liberia's President Charles Taylor may not avail of their asylum offer calling into question the moves to bring peace to the war-torn West African state.
A spokesman for Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told a news conference in Abuja today that Mr Taylor is insisting neighbouring Sierra Leone's UN-backed war crimes court drop charges against him before he leaves Liberia.
Mr Taylor has promised to step down next Monday under pressure from the United States and West African countries. His resignation is crucial to efforts to obtain a lasting ceasefire among feudal war lords.
"The latest information we have is that Mr Taylor appears at the present time unwilling to take up our offer of asylum," Mr Felix Macebuh said.
"As a matter of fact, the problem is that Mr Taylor is simply saying that he will be willing only to leave Liberia if the international court drops the war crimes charges against him."
The court in Sierra Leone has repeatedly said it will not drop charges against Mr Taylor, who is accused of masterminding a brutal 10-year conflict there that was marked by savage atrocities against civilians.
Meanwhile the country's capital, Monrovia - the scene of some of the most vicious fighting of the five years of violence - was at its quietist for at least two weeks.
Hope has been transformed by yesterday's arrival of 200 Nigerian peacekeepers. White UN helicopters landed another 70 Nigerian troops at Monrovia airport on today.
The Nigerian force commander and the US ambassador crossed the frontline on Tuesday to meet rebel commanders.
US officials say their vessels off the coast of Liberia could be deployed to assist with communications and logistics. But with President Bush still wavering on whether to deploy forces in a land founded by freed American slaves more than 150 years ago, their precise role remains under discussion.