Taylor resigns under pressure from rebels, Presidents, and UN

In June 2003, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) began a siege of Monrovia. On July 9, the Nigerian President offered Charles Taylor safe exile in Nigeria, provided he stayed out of Liberian politics. In the same month, American President George W. Bush stated twice that Taylor 'must leave Liberia'. Taylor insisted that he would resign only if American peacekeeping troops were deployed to Liberia. On August 1, 2003, the United Nations Security Council, through Resolution 1497, decided on a multinational force in Liberia, to be followed by a United Nations stabilization force. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sent troops under the banner of 'ECOMIL' to Liberia, with these troops starting to arrive around August 15. The United States provided logistical support. President Taylor resigned and flew into exile in Nigeria. Vice-president Moses Blah replaced Taylor as interim-President. An ECOWAS-ECOMIL force of 1000 Nigerian troops was airlifted into Liberia on August 15 to halt the occupation of Monrovia by rebel forces. Meanwhile, the U.S. stationed a Marine Expeditionary Unit with 2300 Marines offshore Liberia.