| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shelling in Monrovia kills at least 12 civiliansBush orders Marines to positions off Liberian coast
(CNN) -- Heavy shelling besieged parts of the Liberian capital Friday, including a section near the U.S. Embassy, and claimed the lives of at least 12 civilians who had been seeking refuge from the nation's bloody civil war, a journalist on the scene told CNN. Among the sites struck in Monrovia was a school that has been serving as a refugee camp for hundreds who lost or fled their homes. Several children were killed in the shelling, and others were wounded. Stephan Faris with Time magazine said the shelling lasted less than 20 minutes and appeared to come from the rebels, who are seeking the ouster of President Charles Taylor's regime and what they call a return to democracy. "There is absolutely no military reason to be shelling this part of town," Faris said. "Whether they're doing it on purpose or whether they're simply overshooting the front line has been unclear." A downtown business area was also struck, he said, and a government official told him government troop positions on the north side of the city were hit as well. Facing mounting international pressure, President Bush ordered U.S. troops to positions off the Liberian coast to assist a West African peacekeeping force that is expected to be sent to the region. (Full story) Although Bush did not say how large the force would be, U.S. officials told CNN that Bush's order is expected to send more than 2,000 Marines to the region. The Marines, part of a three-ship amphibious ready group headed by the USS Iwo Jima that is now in the Mediterranean, will not yet go ashore, sources said. If they are ordered ashore, the troops will likely provide logistical and communications support to the peacekeeping force sent by ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, which will try to enforce a cease-fire between rebel groups and Taylor's forces, the sources said. Cease-fire agreements that have been struck have not stopped the fighting. ECOWAS nations have pledged to send forces, beginning with a Nigerian contingent of 700-1,000 troops. Nigeria said it will send a battalion that is leaving neighboring Sierre Leone. That will take a week to 10 days, Nigerian officials said. Bush: U.S. 'deeply concerned'The U.N. refugee agency called Friday for peacekeepers to be deployed immediately. "Hundreds of thousands of people are in grave danger in Liberia and we need to do something now," the agency said in a written statement. Said Bush, "We are deeply concerned that the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse." Bush also reiterated his call for the departure from the country of Taylor, blamed by the United States for many of the region's problems. Taylor has accepted an offer to go to Nigeria but has said he wants peacekeeping troops in place before he leaves. The Bush administration has cited historical ties between the United States and Liberia as a reason that U.S. involvement is important. The country was founded as a home for freed U.S. slaves. Also, U.S. officials have noted that unstable countries can serve as breeding grounds for terrorist groups, including al Qaeda.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
