US troops arrive in Liberia
2003-08-14 11:19
Monrovia - US troops arrived in Liberia on Thursday to assist west African peacekeepers in securing Monrovia's rebel-held port, while new President Moses Blah prepared to travel to Ghana for talks with rebel leaders.
A contingent of 200 soldiers, including a 150-strong rapid reaction force, flew into Monrovia's Robertsfield airport from three warships stationed off Liberia's coast.
Liberian Foreign Minister Lewis Brown said Blah, who took over on Monday after Charles Taylor went into exile, was leaving for Accra to discuss peace prospects with rebels.
He will meet with members of the country's two rebel groups - Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (Model) - who have been attending west African-brokered talks in Ghana since June.
Brown said the aim of the visit was "to discuss the peace process and the way forward," adding: "We are very optimistic, the process is well advanced."
He said there could be "new offers on the table" but it remained to be seen how the rebels would react to them.
Lurd rebels on Wednesday restated their opposition to Blah, who has taken charge as the head of a caretaker administration.
"We want our leader Sekou Damate Conneh to lead the interim government," said Lurd deputy secretary general Sekou Fofana, adding that Blah, Taylor's former vice president, was too closely identified with the former leader.
The US soldiers' arrival, meanwhile, signalled preparations for the handover Monrovia's key port area, which has been occupied by rebels for a month.
There are already about 100 US soldiers on the ground in Monrovia, out of some 3 000 Marines who are aboard the ships off the coast.
General Norton Schwartz, operations director of the Joint Staff, said the US troops would also include navy Seal commandos, engineers and Marine liaison troops embedded with the west African peacekeeping force.