WEST African peacekeepers were to mount their first patrol of war-ravaged Monrovia as President Charles Taylor appeared to stall for time before going into exile in Nigeria.

Nigerian peacekeepers faced a daunting task today as they prepared to enter the Liberian capital Monrovia, which has been under rebel siege for two months.

Nigerian soldiers landed a few dozen at a time in a peace deployment that is planned to build to a 3,250-strong force with the goal of ending 14 years of carnage in Liberia under warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor.

An advance inspection team of a long-promised multi-national peacekeeping force flew into Liberia’s besieged capital as explosions and gunfire rocked Monrovia, despite a new rebel ceasefire pledge.