Liberia's new president, Moses Blah, is expected to meet officials from rebel factions holding three-quarters of the country in Ghana on Thursday, the Liberian foreign minister said.

"They have a right to their claims and the government has a right to its claims," said Foreign Minister Lewis Brown, waiting for Blah at the airport to leave for Accra.

Blah took office on Monday after the resignation of pariah leader Charles Taylor, now in exile. He is expected to remain in the job until October and then hand over to an interim administration picked by warring factions and political parties.

Blah, Taylor's former deputy, has already offered the rebels the post of vice-president as an olive branch.

But they are wary of him as an old ally of Taylor from years of bush war before he won 1997 elections.

The main rebel faction Liberians United for Reconciliation and democracy (LURD) is due to withdraw from the capital Monrovia's vital port on Thursday and then pull back from the city to hand over to West African peacekeepers.

The rebel assault on Monrovia three weeks ago, the latest chapter in nearly 14 years of bloodshed, left 2,000 people dead and many traumatized Liberians in the city are desperate for food, water and security.

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