Liberia’s war-battered capital Monrovia was relatively calm on Monday although government troops were battling rebels in the key port area, as the United States ordered extra troops into the city.
The intensity of mortar and gunfire died down at night in the city centre as troops loyal to embattled President Charles Taylor repulsed a rebel advance on the strategic Gabriel Tucker and Old bridges leading to downtown Monrovia.
The fighting then shifted to the strategic port area — on the northern side of the city — which had been captured by the rebels on Saturday, Liberian Defence Minister Daniel Chea said, vowing to defend the capital ”street by street.”
Liberian defence sources Monday said they were trying to wrest the port from the insurgents.
Streams of people were meanwhile seen walking on the roads in parts of Mamba Point, the diplomatic quarter where several international humanitarian organisations are also based, as well as in areas near downtown Monrovia.
The city centre was however quiet.
Witnesses reported widespread looting by pro-government militiamen in the eastern district of Paynesville. Heavy battles raged in Monrovia over the weekend, causing several civilian and military deaths, sources said without giving a figure.
The newest offensive by Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) rebels dealt another devastating blow to a ceasefire they signed last month with the government but it had in essence been nearly dead on arrival after being shattered several times already.
Meanwhile, the United States on Sunday ordered 41 additional troops to Monrovia essentially to protect the embassy.
The Defence Department said the soldiers, belonging to a naval ”anti-terrorism security team” based in Rota, Spain, will join US marines currently guarding the US embassy in Mamba Point.
The deployment of a US counterterrorism team — ordered by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the request of US Ambassador John Blaney, according to the Pentagon — marks a second attempt to shore up the US embassy’s defences.
Washington despatched 35 combat troops to Monrovia in early June when fighting moved perilously close to the US mission.
But US President George Bush appeared no closer to making a decision on US participation in a peacekeeping force being considered for Liberia, despite the spiralling violence.
Calls have been growing for US intervention in the country, which was founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves.
The capital Monrovia is named after US President James Monroe and several areas in the city, such as the Virginia district, have US-inspired names.
Last month, LURD staged its most audacious attack on Monrovia in its four years of battling Taylor’s forces, entering the centre of the city before pulling back ahead of a June 17 truce, brokered by west African leaders.
Under the ceasefire agreement, President Taylor, now in control of only one-fifth of his country, was to have gone into exile to pave the way for an interim government and fresh elections to end the ruinous war.
Nigeria, west Africa’s military powerhouse, has offered the embattled Taylor asylum if he agrees to step down and allow the shaky peace process to get back under way. Taylor has accepted but has not said when he will leave.
A dozen officers from a west African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), have arrived in Liberia to prepare the way for a peacekeeping mission.
Nigeria is expected to provide the largest contingent of peacekeepers in the 1 500-strong force, which could eventually be joined by US troops. – Sapa-AFP