Liberian rebels rejected a US appeal to pull back from the capital Monrovia yesterday as renewed fighting endangered the plan to send in peacekeepers this week.
Shelling killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens as the rebels pushed back the government forces. Aid workers put the week’s death toll at 400. Neither the US nor Nigeria is keen to send its troops into such mayhem.
The US ambassador, John Blaney, called on the rebels to withdraw to the Po river, about 10 kilometres from the city, which would leave them with territorial gains and supply lines but open the port and refugee camps to aid agencies.
He said President Charles Taylor had agreed to the proposal and urged Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy to follow suit and show that ”they have regard for the people of Liberia, that [they are] not indifferent to the great human suffering that is taking place here”.
”Many innocent people are dying. Water is scarce and food is running low. Disease is out of control,” he told reporters.
The Pope also called for a ceasefire yesterday, but the appeals were ignored: the rebels pushed past Stockton Creek bridge, a gateway to the city centre, main airport and presidential residence.
Sekou Conneh, chairman of Lurd, said they would not withdraw until foreign troops arrived. ”Why should I pull back? We’ll hand over positions to the peacekeepers, not to Taylor.”
About 200 000 people are living without shelter in Monrovia, where some districts have been reduced to rubble. Cholera, dysentery and hunger are compounding the misery.
Four people died early yesterday when a mortar round hit their tin-roofed shack, an aid worker said. On Saturday another mortar round killed a family of eight adults and two children. A church sheltering refugees which was hit on Saturday was hit again yesterday, reportedly wounding 20.
”The last two days have been quite terrible. Everybody is indoors, we are very frightened,” Sam Nagbe, an Oxfam relief worker, said by telephone.”
He added: ”We will be disappointed if the Americans play a secondary role, but right now we don’t give a damn who it is, we just want peacekeepers here.”
Three US warships carrying marines are due to arrive this week but President Bush has not said whether they will disembark or remain to back up other peacekeepers.
Paul Wolfowitz, his deputy defence secretary, said the US was taking responsibility, just as the UK and France respectively did in Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, but Liberia’s neighbours and the UN should take the lead.
The Nigerian vanguard of a west African force is supposed to arrive on Saturday but UN officials said disputes over funding and logistical support could cause further delays. – Guardian Unlimited Â