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US threatens deadly force
25/07/2003 21:18 - (SA)
Monrovia - US soldiers guarding their embassy in Liberia's war-ravaged capital Monrovia on Friday distributed leaflets threatening to use deadly force against anybody who approached the mission in a hostile manner.
Troops guarding the US embassy, fenced in by razor wire since a series of mortar attacks on the capital, were "authorised to use deadly force, if necessary, to carry out their mission," the leaflet said.
"To avoid an incident, keep away from the embassy compound. When in the vicinity of the embassy, make no sudden movements or threatening gestures," it said before repeating the threat to use "deadly force," if required.
The leaflets bore an image of a gun-wielding US soldier against a Stars and Stripes background.
Troops put up razor wire outside the embassy gates after 15 mortar shells rained down on the Mamba Point diplomatic quarter, where the US mission is located, killing 11 people and wounding 40, according to humanitarian sources.
One mortar hit the embassy earlier this week, without causing any injuries.
Despite Friday's warning, thousands of displaced people filled the streets near the embassy but were held back by roadblocks set up by US soldiers either side of the main gate.
Meanwhile, in Washington, President George W Bush announced he was sending US ships to the Liberian coast to back the deployment of west African peacekeepers in the war-ravaged west African nation.
A White House statement said the US role would be "limited in time and scope as multinational forces under the United Nations assume the responsibility for peacekeeping and as the UN arranges a political transition in Liberia."
The Economic Community of West African States, Ecowas, is expected to decide Monday on sending a west African peacekeeping force to Liberia, where hundreds of civilians have died in clashes between government forces and rebel forces.
There has been mounting anger in Liberia - a country founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century - over Bush's refusal to lead a multinational force to end a deadly four-year rebel war.
Liberian President Charles Taylor, a former warlord who played a leading role in an earlier seven-year civil conflict, now only controls a fifth of his country and is struggling to defend the seaside capital Monrovia.
- AFX
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