Liberia battles rage as West African team arrives

MONROVIA - West African military experts arrived in Liberia Wednesday to prepare for the deployment of a peacekeeping force even as rebels and government forces fought fierce battles for control of the country's two biggest cities.

The long-awaited peacekeeping mission flew in from Ghana and was expected to remain until Saturday to work out the logistics of deploying a vanguard force of some 1,500 Nigerian troops.

In New York, the United States introduced a draft UN Security Council resolution to authorise a peacekeeping force, preparing for any future US and UN deployment in Liberia.

The resolution would give a UN mandate to the West African troops or those from other countries, such as the United States. It would also pave the way for a UN peacekeeping operation to take over in October.

West African pledges to send peacekeepers have been hobbled by haggling over who should pay and concerns about the fighting. Two Nigerian battalions are on standby but no date has been set.

Nigerian Brigadier-General Festus Okonkwo, who will head the West African peacekeepers, told reporters at Monrovia's airport: "We've come here to see the situation on the ground...and then get back to look at our plan."

Taylor's military commanders said fighting was raging around New Bridge and Gabriel Tucker Bridge -- gateways to the heart of a capital besieged by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) for 12 days.

"From this afternoon, heavy fighting has been going on around the two main bridges. We have been fighting for four hours but LURD forces are using heavy weapons, which are dropping in civilian areas," one commander said by telephone.

Residents in Liberia's second city and strategic port of Buchanan said fighting between a second rebel group and Taylor's stretched troops had left dozens of bodies in the streets.

A rebel group known as Model seized Buchanan Monday, tightening the noose around Taylor, a former warlord indicted for war crimes by a U.N.-backed court and under US pressure to quit.

Liberian Defence Minister Daniel Chea said government reinforcements had been rushed to Buchanan, where fierce battle were continuing in the center.

"Our forces have been trying to corner them in the town and flush them out," Chea told Reuters, still wearing a bullet-proof vest after visiting his home town.

Earlier, one Buchanan resident said the dead were being carted away in wheelbarrows when it was safe to retrieve them.

"There are bodies all over the place. Dozens of people have been killed," said another resident by telephone. "The wounded are on the streets and there is no way to treat them."

Many Liberians feel the United States should intervene to save a country founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century. Three US warships are on their way to Liberia's waters but Washington is reluctant to put troops on the ground. President Bush reiterated that Taylor must leave office and that a cease-fire must be implemented.

Taylor has accepted an offer of asylum from Nigeria and pledged to go once the peacekeepers arrive. The State Department urged rebels not to advance beyond Buchanan, saying that would undermine peace efforts.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed during the latest rebel attack, cut down by stray bullets or mortar bombs.

Monrovia's main football stadium is packed with nearly 52,000 people and disease is rife as food and water become increasingly rare in the crowded city.

Liberia has been crippled by violence for almost 14 years, including a civil war in the 1990s in which 200,000 people were killed. Taylor has also been accused of fueling instability across the volatile region.

- REUTERS