Bush orders US troops into Liberia

US President George W Bush has authorised a small contingent of US troops to enter Liberia to provide logistical support for West African peacekeeping forces in the war-ravaged country, a senior administration official said.

The official said Mr Bush approved the deployment of a contingent of six to 10 US troops yesterday morning.

The troops could enter Liberia as early as Wednesday, the official said, and the team could grow to as large as 20 in coming days.

A defence official in Washington confirmed the deployment, but said he did not know when the contingent would enter Liberia.

The authorisation was made on the recommendation of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the senior administration official said.

The peacekeepers are already bringing a measure of calm to the country. African nations and the UN have urged the US to participate in the force, citing its historic ties with the nation founded by freed US slaves in the mid-19th century.

Mr Bush has said that Liberian President Charles Taylor must leave Liberia. Taylor, then a warlord, launched the civil war in 1989 that has ravaged the tiny nation. One of his conditions for leaving is US participation in a peacekeeping force.