Liberian rebels call for US troops

Rebels and government troops are regularly involved in skirmishes

Liberia's main rebel group has called on the US to rush a large force into the country.

Kabineh Ja'neh, a leader of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd), said: "We would like to see an overwhelming presence of American troops on the ground."

He said ideally Liberian President Charles Taylor would leave at the same time as US troops arrive as well as soldiers from West Africa.

"It would be a monumental psychological comfort and would signal an end to the war," Mr Ja'neh said, speaking from nearby Ghana, where he was attending peace talks.

Rebels have launched two major assaults in the Liberian capital Monrovia in recent months and thousands of civilians have been displaced by fighting.

"We would prefer the Americans to come in first and not the other way around," Mr Ja'neh said. "It would be a psychological comfort to see new faces."

Any delays will only serve to prolong the country's pain Paul Welsh BBC correspondent in Monrovia Analysis: US troops for Liberia? Q&A: Liberia's conflict

But Paul Welsh, the BBC's correspondent in the capital, Monrovia, says US forces will not arrive until after other regional peacekeepers.

He said a West African peacekeeping force is due to arrive in about two weeks, but said delays were possible due to other recent operations.

"Any delays will only serve to prolong the country's pain," he said.

Flex muscles

But US President George Bush said any deployment of US troops in Liberia would be "limited in size and limited in tenure".

Mr Bush, speaking after a meeting with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the White House on Monday, says he is waiting for more information from teams he sent to Liberia about its humanitarian needs and military situation before a decision to send troops can be reached.

Liberians are desperate for an end to over a decade of conflict

In pictures

Mr Bush repeated the need for Mr Taylor to leave before US personnel arrived.

Mr Taylor has agreed to step down but has said he will not take up an offer of asylum in Nigeria until the peacekeeping force arrives in Liberia.

But Mr Ja'neh said: "Washington needs to flex its muscles to see Taylor leaves immediately. The future of Liberia can only be discussed in a post-Taylor scenario."

Liberia has been torn by almost non-stop conflict for 14 years, including a civil war in the 1990s in which 200,000 people were killed.