Rebels hit port city as envoys back peace force

REBELS attacked government forces in Liberia’s second-largest city yesterday, stepping up war against President Charles Taylor on a second front as insurgents in Monrovia pressed their siege of the bloodied capital.

As fighting erupted in Buchanan, an Atlantic coastal city 60 miles south-east of the capital, West African, US and UN envoys negotiated a long-promised peace force for Liberia seen as crucial to ending the latest round of warfare.

Launching the offensive in Buchanan was the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, the country’s second-largest rebel group which until recently had largely heeded ceasefire pledges.