Liberia's President Charles Taylor confirmed today that he would hand over power later this month and would stand by his pledge to leave his war-torn country.
Asked by reporters if the handover would take place on August 11th, Mr Taylor said: "That is correct." He was speaking after meeting with West African envoys in the capital, Monrovia.
Earlier, Ghanaian Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo said Taylor was expected to formally hand over power and had agreed to leave the political scene.
West African leaders had previously asked the former warlord to leave Liberia three days after the arrival of a regional peacekeeping force. The first Nigerian soldiers are due to arrive in Monrovia on Monday.
Mr Taylor has been indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed court in Sierra Leone and has accepted an offer of asylum from Nigeria.
Earlier today, Liberian government forces stormed three key bridges in Monrovia, opening the way for a two-pronged attack on the key port area held by rebels fighting to oust Mr Taylor.
Government troops and rebel forces are also battling for control of Liberia's second city, Buchanan, Buchanan, a strategic southeastern port seized on Monday by the rebel group Model.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the crossfire in Monrovia as the other main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), tighten the noose around the city.
Many see the coming days as the end-game in a rebellion launched in 2000 by Mr Taylor's foes from a previous civil war he started in 1989. That conflict left some 200,000 dead.
At least 11 civilians died in mortar bomb attacks yesterday which sent terrified residents scuttling for cover through a near-deserted downtown Monrovia, bullets whizzing overhead.
The UN Security Council last night authorised a multinational force to replace the Nigerians by October 1st.
The United States, which is also pressuring Mr Taylor to leave the country, has promised logistic support to the peacekeeping operation but has as yet taken no decision on whether to send in US troops. US warships carrying marines, helicopters and boats were due off Liberia today as part of Washington's pledge to support the African peacekeepers.