Civilians, gunmen loot Liberian port

MONROVIA, Liberia -- Thousands of civilians and gunmen pillaged oil and sacks of grain from Monrovia's port Wednesday ahead of rebels' promised withdrawal, and the United States pledged 200 troops to bolster West African peacekeepers.

A ship laden with humanitarian aid bobbed offshore, ready to deliver food and supplies to civilians starving and facing disease in the besieged capital, where many have subsisted on leaves.

The U.S. force would be the largest sent ashore despite international pressure for the Bush administration to help the wartorn West African nation.

Fighting persisted Wednesday outside Monrovia, even after the resignation Monday of Charles Taylor, the warlord-turned-president whose exile in Nigeria was seen as a step toward ending 14 years of near-incessant bloodshed.

Three U.S. warships carrying about 2,300 Marines already wait off shore, and the Pentagon said some 200 American forces would be sent in if the rebels surrender the port.

Government forces and fighters of Liberia's smaller rebel movement battled on the road leading from Monrovia to the southeastern port of Buchanan.

The fighting has split the capital into the government-held downtown and the rebel-held port, which is controlled by the larger of Liberia's two rebel groups. Government areas have been unable to get food from the port, leaving trapped civilians in Monrovia's government territory famished and eating little but leaves.

Mainly young men but also girls and the elderly joined fighters streaming out of Monrovia's port Wednesday with sacks of grain, cooking oil and other goods taken from shipping containers and international aid agency warehouses.