A brief look at Charles Taylor, who resigned as president of Liberia on Monday, and his successor, Moses Blah:
CHARLES TAYLOR
The Liberian-born Taylor escaped from a Boston jail in 1985 to avoid charges of embezzling $1 million from Liberia and went on to become one of West Africa's most notorious warlords.
He trafficked weapons and diamonds, sparked wars and refugee crises, and drew U.N. sanctions. A U.N.-backed tribunal indicted him on war crimes charges for supporting rebels in Sierra Leone's civil war.
Taylor was elected president in 1997 on threats of plunging the country into renewed bloodshed, and once even admitted to ruining Liberia. He came under intense pressure to resign in recent months as rebels surrounded the capital, and he finally accepted exile in Nigeria after breaking several previous promises to cede power.
In his resignation speech, the 54-year-old Taylor called himself a "sacrificial lamb" and "whipping boy" — veiled references to recent calls from President Bush that he leave office.
MOSES BLAH
Blah, now 56, has been a close Taylor ally since the two trained together in Libyan guerrilla camps, and he helped launch an uprising in 1989 against then-President Samuel Doe that hurled Liberia into nearly 14 years of bloody strife.
They are so close that rebels who control much of Liberia initially said they wouldn't accept him. While it's still not clear if he'll have any real power as president, insurgents now say he can remain in office until a transitional government is formed to oversee fresh elections.
Despite a fearsome reputation as a former guerrilla general, he is a quiet, unassuming man who drives himself around in a Jeep while other officials travel in flashy motorcades.
Blah became Taylor's inspector general in charge of discipline during the war — reputedly a euphemism for executions. His first wife was killed by Doe's forces.
A mechanic by training, he studied in Germany and later became Liberia's ambassador to Libya and Tunisia. He was named vice president three years ago.