UK aid package for Liberia

Emergency healthcare is given at the football stadium

Thirty tonnes of British aid is to be flown to war-ravaged Liberia.

A £90,000 package leaves the UK on Sunday night on a Boeing DC-8 privately chartered by Save the Children.

Fighting between government and rebel groups has left more than 200,000 people displaced, many of whom have fled to the capital, Monrovia.

The Liberian President, Charles Taylor, has agreed to step down on 11 August, one week after the first peacekeeping troops arrive from Nigeria.

A UN multinational force is being deployed by 1 October to try and keep control.

The relief flight is expected to leave Manston Airport in Kent at 2000 BST on Sunday, a charity spokeswoman said.

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The aid package includes 8.5 tonnes of cholera and rehydration kits, 150 bales of baby clothes and heavy plastic sheeting for emergency shelters.

Five tonnes of high energy biscuits, 10,000 collapsible jerry cans and five World Health Organisation medical kits will also be flown out.

David Throp, from Save the Children, said: "The desperate need of children and families in Liberia is a direct result of the civil war.

"Save the Children is asking the UK Government to ensure that the US administration puts its troops on the ground in Liberia to support other regional and international troops.

"This is the only practical way to ensure the success of the peace enforcement resolution the US administration itself has placed before the UN Security Council."

The streets are no longer safe

The charity fears that children are at risk not only from fatal diseases, but also sexual abuse, exploitation and recruitment into armed groups.

At least 40,000 people are camping in the Samuel K Doe Sports Stadium because they have nowhere else to go.

Dirty water has raised the threat of cholera and diarrhoea, so 30 days of water purification tablets for 10,000 families are also on board the plane.

The fighting became so intense last week that Save the Children had to pull out of most of the country, and its work is now restricted to Monrovia.

Oxfam is hoping to fly water and sanitation equipment to the West African country next week.