The main points of a landmark truce signed yesterday between Liberian rebels and President Charles Taylor's government to end the West African country's four-year civil war, include:

- Peace talks to be held over the next 30 days on the formation of an interim government, which will not include Taylor;

- The establishment and deployment of a "verification team" to assess the situation on the ground in Liberia;

- The force will comprise members from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States regional grouping, a UN-backed international contact group on Liberia, the African Union, the United Nations and representatives of the two rebel groups and the Liberian government;

- The rebel groups and the government to "identify locations of units including combat equipment" in writing to the joint verification team within 72 hours of the signing of the agreement;

- The establishment of a committee to monitor the ceasefire;

- The creation and eventual deployment of an international peacekeeping force;

- Ceasefire violations to include not only attacks and recruitment of combatants but also sabotage, kidnapping, harrassment, seizure of arms, illegal arrests and importing new arms or ammunition as well as "hostile" or "defamatory" propaganda.

President Charles Taylor's government said it would respect a West African brokered truce which was signed in Ghana yesterday to end a devastating four-year rebel war.

"The solution to the conflict in Liberia will come from our commitment to the peace process," Taylor's press spokesperson Vanii Passewe said.

"The president is a very popular personality, and he is an essential element in the search for peace," he added.

The deal, which was signed in the Ghanaian capital Accra, provides for "comprehensive peace talks" within 30 days on the establishment of a transition government from which Taylor will be excluded.

Taylor, who was indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed court in Sierra Leone on June 4, the day the Liberian peace talks started in Ghana, has pledged not to seek a fresh term when his mandate expires in January next year.

Passewe said: "Democracy must be protected. Long-term peace will only happen if we agree among us on the political system that the ballot box determine the leader. Then defeat Taylor if you can.

"The president has to finish his term to be part of the peace process. He might even receive a lot of support from the people to run again," he said.

The ceasefire sparked mixed reactions in Liberia.

As news of the truce filtered into the Liberian seaside capital Monrovia, hundreds of excited civilians streamed into the streets of the city's Duala quarter screaming: "We want peace!" and "No more war".

Government soldiers meanwhile expressed concern over their fate and that of Taylor.

"It's nearly impossible to have an agreement without Charles Taylor," Colonel Sirus Johnny said in Klay, about 30 km from Monrovia.

General Roland Duo, who commands the army and pro-government militia, said: "We need to know who will be in charge as president because we need to feel comfortable with that person".

"If Taylor is not part of the disarmament, there will be problems. We want assurances for our own security. Who will disarm us? We will never give up our arms" to the rebels, he said.

"If Taylor has to go, we will have to go with him," he added.

Monrovia has seen an influx of tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the recent conflict on the city's outskirts.

They are living in abysmal conditions amid an acute shortage of food, drinking water and medicines.

The current war began in 1999, only two years after the end of another civil war in the country, which lasted seven years and was marked by a shocking degree of brutality.

Taylor was a key player in that conflict, which ended in 1997 - the year he was elected president. - Sapa-AFP.