Date set for Liberia force

Monrovia's residents at last have something to cheer

The first peacekeepers, some 1,500 troops, are to deploy in Liberia at the start of next week, West African leaders have announced in Ghana.

They said the total force of 3,250 West African soldiers will deploy within three weeks.

The announcement came as fighting subsided in the capital, Monrovia, and residents flooded onto the streets to cheer 10 military experts, tasked with preparing for the forces' deployment.

"No more war, we want peace," they shouted, hoping their arrival marks the end of the 13-day battle for the city.

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In another boost for Monrovia residents, a cargo plane from the International Committee of the Red Cross has delivered emergency medical supplies and a water truck to the Liberian capital, the aid agency says.

West African leaders also announced they would send a delegation to Monrovia on Friday to persuade President Charles Taylor to leave the country three days after the peacekeepers arrive.

President Taylor - who also faces war crimes charges in neighbouring Sierra Leone - agreed to quit office and accept asylum in Nigeria, but only after the arrival of peacekeepers.

Ecowas announced on 4 July it would send the mainly Nigerian troops to Liberia but the deployment has been hampered by continuing fighting and haggling over who will bear the cost of the mission.

Mandate for action

The United States, which has resisted calls to send troops in, has introduced a draft resolution at the United Nations that would allow the immediate deployment of an international force to Liberia.

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The draft resolution, which is expected to be passed without a vote, reportedly foresees:

• The immediate dispatch of peacekeepers from Ecowas and other states with a mandate to use force if necessary

• Their replacement by a full UN force by 1 October after Secretary General Kofi Annan reports to the Security Council by 15 August

• Approval for an urgent request from Mr Annan for the UN to underwrite some of the costs of the Nigerian troops due to go in first

Mr Annan said West African leaders had made it clear that they were prepared to send in troops but needed financial and logistical support, including airlifts.

The US is sending its own seaborne force - now said to be at most three days from Liberia - but it has no orders to deploy on shore.

Misery

Conditions in Monrovia are said to be appalling, with increasing numbers of children facing malnourishment as food and water supplies run dangerously low.

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Monrovia's main hospitals are saying that within two weeks they will have run out of medicine and fuel for generators.

The senior medical officer at the city's main JFK hospital, Mohamed Sheriff, said they are receiving a huge number of patients daily and are struggling to cope.

Prices are soaring and the country's staple food, rice, is running out fast.

Rebels control the capital's food stocks in the port area and have been accused by the government of looting - though they say they have simply been handing out food to the hungry.

Another rebel group captured Liberia's second city, Buchanan, earlier this week, cutting off the last remaining route for food imports to get to government-held parts of the capital.

International aid groups say they can do little to help the 1.3 million people trapped in the city.