As foreign leaders called on Bush to send US troops to the country founded by freed American slaves, the president sharply denounced Liberian leader Charles Taylor from a White House podium Wednesday.

"One thing has to happen: Mr. Taylor needs to leave the country," Bush said. "In order for there to be peace and stability in Liberia, Charles Taylor needs to leave now."

But Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday they had not decided whether to send peacekeepers to the West African nation, as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and other world leaders have urged. Annan has said he would like to see the United States lead a multinational peacekeeping force in Liberia, which has been wracked by months of fighting between forces loyal to Taylor and rebel groups trying to oust him.

Taylor has refused to leave office. A UN-backed court in neighboring Sierra Leone has indicted Taylor for crimes against humanity for his backing of rebels in that country whose signature atrocities included hacking off their victims' limbs.

Taylor told CBS Radio on Wednesday that US troops would be welcomed inside the country, that he would be willing to leave Liberia in about three months and called for the United Nations war crimes charges against him to be dropped.

I'm not sure if "asking the democratically elected president to leave is the solution, but I will leave," he said.