LIBERIA: Hundreds of people demonstrated in Liberia's capital yesterday in an unprecedented show of opposition to President Charles Taylor, as US President Bush kept up the pressure on the former warlord to leave.
"Taylor must go" and "No more Taylor, we want Bush", chanted more than 400 people outside the US embassy as American marines in flak jackets and helmets kept watch from the roof.
Across the battered coastal capital, a few hundred Taylor supporters gathered in a football stadium to show their support for a president who never looked so vulnerable.
Long regarded as the instigator of West Africa's conflicts, Mr Taylor has been indicted for war crimes by an international court and besieged by rebels who want him out.
Even some at the pro-Taylor rally said he would have to step down, but they warned he should not be pushed out abruptly.
Mr Bush said yesterday that the first step to any resolution to the crisis was Mr Taylor's departure from Liberia, which was founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century.
"One expectation is that Mr Taylor's got to leave. That message is clear. I can't make it any more clear," he said.
The US has indicated it would send hundreds of troops to Liberia as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. Mr Bush said his military thinkers were however still studying various options.
Liberia's crisis looms over Mr Bush's visit to Africa next week, with the US under pressure to act because of its historical ties to Liberia.