Bush tells Liberian leader to go

Civilian casualties are mounting daily

US President George W Bush has called on Liberian leader Charles Taylor to quit, as government and rebel forces continue to battle for control of the capital, Monrovia.

"President Taylor needs to step down, so that his country can be spared further bloodshed," Mr Bush said in Washington.

He added that the US supported peace talks - from which the rebels which pulled out on Tuesday.

The Liberian Government welcomed Mr Bush's call for talks, and said President Taylor had already offered to step aside for a transitional government.

However BBC West Africa correspondent Paul Welsh said the offer included all sorts of ifs and buts.

The parties in Liberia must pursue a comprehensive peace agreement

George W Bush

The government insists that Mr Taylor cannot step aside before the end of his term in January - and only if war crimes charges against him are dropped.

The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone has issued an international arrest warrant against the Liberian president, accusing him of backing brutal rebels during the 10-year civil war in Sierra Leone.

The rebels say they will only negotiate if Mr Taylor goes straight away.

Bloodbath

There was renewed heavy shelling in Monrovia as night fell on Thursday.

Earlier, Liberian Health Minister Peter Coleman said hundreds of civilians had been killed and more than 1,000 injured in fierce fighting in Monrovia in recent days.

Aid worker's diary

Q&A: Liberia's conflict

Our West Africa correspondent says the army appears to have pushed the rebels back some distance inside the capital - but the fighting continues and residents fear a bloodbath in the city centre.

The Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) rebels, which control some two-thirds of the country, have said they will not stop until they take full control of Monrovia.

Up to 250,000 people are sleeping rough seeking some kind of safety from fighting in the suburbs.

Aid agencies say they are working against the clock to install health and water facilities to prevent outbreaks of disease in the impromptu camps, while health officials said the main hospital is crowded to bursting point.

As the violence raged, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the British Ambassador to the UN, proposed that the US lead a peacekeeping force. Liberia was founded by freed American slaves.

But the US ambassador in Monrovia, John William Blaney, told the BBC that the parties had to stop fighting first.