US troops ordered to Liberia

US troops were today moving toward the coast of Liberia to support the arrival of a West African peacekeeping force after 26 Liberians were killed in mortar fire in the besieged capital, Monrovia.

US President George W Bush stopped short of saying the Americans would participate directly in a peacekeeping mission.

Pentagon officials said the only major US troop movement was the dispatching of three Navy ships carrying hundreds of Marines to the waters off the Liberian coast.

It was not clear whether the Marines would go ashore. The ships were expected to reach the Liberian coast within several days.

Mr Bush said he expected the United Nations to relieve the troops “in short order.”

Liberians have been begging for US help. International relief workers have been pressing the White House for action, saying that a delay in sending in peacekeepers made it impossible to help victims of the fighting.

Monrovia’s residents have pleaded for almost two months for US troops to come to their rescue as rebels pressed home their three-year war to drive warlord-turned-President Charles Taylor from power in Liberia, a country founded more than 150 years ago by freed American slaves.

A few weeks ago, even false rumours of US Marines landing were enough to set off joyous celebrations, with dancing and singing in the streets.

There was no such outbreak of joy in the numbed city last night.

“Until we see it with our own eyes, US troops on the ground for peace – then we will believe they are here for us,” said Sylvester Blamo, one of thousands sheltering near the US embassy, hoping for some safety through proximity to the heavily-guarded compound.

Three waves of attacks, the latest near a week-old, have killed hundreds in the capital – still in ruins from the country’s last 1989-96 civil war.

Its one million residents, swelled by hundreds of thousands of war refugees, hang on, gripped by hunger, thirst, epidemics and fear.

Government and rebel forces traded blame for yesterday’s barrage, which sent some 20 shells crashing into the densely populated neighbourhood within 10 minutes at its peak, at daybreak.

One shell struck inside the high-walled US Embassy compound, exploding harmlessly on rocky ground, a U.S. official inside said. Another knocked out a transmission tower at Catholic-run radio Veritas, the third strike there in a week.

Elsewhere, there was carnage. One shell slammed into a street where two boys stood brushing their teeth, killing both.

Bush and senior aides have indicated for some time that the US probably would get involved.

Liberia has a historical relationship with the US as a country founded by former slaves.

“We’re deeply concerned that the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse,” Bush said last night “Aid can’t get to the people. We’re worried about the outbreak of disease.”

In New York, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Bush’s announcement “a very positive development” that should accelerate the deployment of West African peacekeepers.

“I hope it will bring some relief to the people of Liberia,” he said.

The European Command, based in Germany and responsible for U.S. military activities in West Africa, said it was sending five people to Nigeria to assess the capabilities of troops in its peacekeeping contingent. The Nigerians are expected to lead the West African peacekeeping mission.

At the State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said the US has made an “initial contribution” of $10m (€8.7m) for deployment of the peacekeeping force.