Aid reaches needy in Liberia

A child in an abandoned hotel where refugees have taken shelter

Relief workers have started distributing British aid in war-ravaged Liberia.

The first peacekeepers have also begun moving into the capital Monrovia.

A £90,000 shipment of food, clothing and medical supplies, along with heavy plastic sheeting for shelter, arrived in the capital, Monrovia, on Monday.

Staff from the charity Save the Children took the first stocks of high-energy biscuits to about 900 children and their families, who they described as "in very bad shape".

More flights from the charity could be made later this week, a spokesman said.

There were a lot of people in very bad shape - things do look very bad Save the Children

"Some of the supplies have gone out now, mainly those special high-energy biscuits," he said.

"There were a lot of people in very bad shape. Things do look very bad."

There had been fears the streets of the city would not be safe enough for the aid workers to carry out their work.

Save the Children's Brendan Paddy said the best thing the peacekeepers could do to help the aid effort would be to stop the fighting and protect the aid from looters.

"The main thing they can do is to ensure that the fighting stops so we can get on with our work more freely and to provide protection not to the agencies but to the civilians because at the moment the civilians are completely at the mercy of the armed groups."

More flights

The aid package includes 8.5 tonnes of cholera and re-hydration kits, water purification tablets for 10,000 families, 150 bales of baby clothes and 60 rolls of heavy plastic sheeting.

Five tonnes of high-energy biscuits, 10,000 collapsible jerry cans and five World Health Organisation medical kits - which can treat 50,000 people between them - were also on the flight.

Oxfam is hoping to fly water and sanitation equipment to Liberia next week.

There were jubilant scenes when 300 Nigerian peacekeeping troops arrived in the country, on a mission to put an end to two months of civil war bloodshed.

Fighting between rebels and troops loyal to President Charles Taylor has left more than 200,000 people displaced, many of whom have fled the city.

Mr Taylor, who has been indicted by a United Nations court on war crimes charges, has agreed to step down on 11 August.