LIBERIA: Momentum is building for an international force to deploy to Liberia in an attempt to end fighting which has left hundreds dead and a war which has spread chaos in West Africa for more than a decade.
A mission from the UN Security Council was due yesterday to meet the Nigerian President, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, whose country diplomats believe would be a likely candidate to send peacekeepers.
The United States, because of historic ties to a country founded by freed American slaves, is under most pressure to lead a force demanded by the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, Britain, France and legions of tired and frightened Liberians.
The sound of overnight gunfire was heard in the capital, Monrovia, where the latest truce is still uncertain after two failed rebel assaults left at least 700 people dead in 10 days.
Liberia says it is already talking to the US and West African countries about sending troops. Mr Annan, a Ghanaian, said the UN Security Council should meet immediately to approve a force "to prevent a major humanitarian tragedy".
Negotiations in Ghana were adjourned for a week last Friday because of the fighting. Liberia has known little but violence for the past 14 years, but the latest rebel attacks have brought home the danger of far greater blood-letting. A civil war in the 1990s left 200,000 dead.
Restoring peace to Liberia tops the agenda of UN Security Council ambassadors on a sweep through West Africa. - (Reuters)