Just a week after they forced warlord Charles Taylor into exile, Liberian rebel groups signed a peace accord today with government officials to end their three-year insurgency.
The accord, signed in the Accra, Ghana, ends a war that has left thousands dead and forced many Liberians to flee their homes. It calls for the establishment of a two-year transitional government which will lead Liberia into elections.
"I want to believe that with the signing of this agreement today, Liberia will never be plunged into another spiral of violence in the quest for political power, or under the false pretence of liberating the people," said the retired Nigerian general Abdulsalami Abubakar, who led two and a half months of peace talks.
Two rebel movements - Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (Model) - signed the agreement, along with representatives of Liberia's post-Taylor government.
"Today is a good day. Today is a happy day," the Lurd leader Sekou Conneh said, as embraced his rebel and government counterparts and exchanged copies of the deal with them. "The war is over."
Peace talks, which had begun on June 4, were quickly sidelined by fighting that overtook Monrovia when all sides violated a June 17 ceasefire.
With the capital as the battle ground, mortar barrages and AK-47 fire killed well over 1,000 civilians outright and left hundreds of thousands trapped and starving following the breakdown of talks.
The signing of the accord concludes a dramatic week of momentous events in Liberia, beginning with Mr Taylor's resignation on August 11 and his flight into exile in Nigeria. Rebels, west African leaders and the US had all called for him to step down.
On Thursday, rebels lifted their siege of Monrovia, allowing vital food and aid to flow.
Under the peace deal, rebels and government alike will waive any claim to top posts in the interim government and yield control to noncombatants for the first period of reconstruction. Rebels and members of Mr Taylor's former government will be allowed to fill lower-ranking positions. Moses Blah, Mr Taylor's designated successor, is to resign in October and make way for the power-sharing government.
Ghana's president, John Kufuor, was on hand for the agreement, which saw representatives of the UN, the EU and the African Union sign as witnesses. The US also has had an influential delegation at the talks.
Brigadier General Festus Okonkwo, the leader of a two-week-old west African peace mission, said he expected to have a second full battalion of Nigerian troops on the ground by the end of the week. Troops from Ghana, Senegal and Mali are expected to join them.
About 150 US soldiers are also on the ground in Liberia, a nation founded with US backing by freed slaves in the 19th century. President George Bush said yesterday that the Marines have a limited mission and will be withdrawn by the beginning of October.
Despite the peace deal, many in Monrovia are still in desperate need of food, after weeks of subsisting on leaves, snails and whatever else they could forage. Most Monrovians remained indoors last night for fear of gunmen, and few had batteries or electricity for radios after 10 weeks of rebel sieges.
"Maybe God has now turned his right ear to Liberia," said Sarah Tingbeh, a 38-year-old refugee, who clutched a plastic bag with a precious cup of rice in it. "We have suffered enough."
Liberia has been in ruins since 1996, when a devastating seven-year civil war launched by Mr Taylor came to an end. At least 150,000 people died in the conflict, and aid agencies estimate that virtually all of the country's three million people were displaced from their homes was displaced at one time or other.