Rebels lift siege of Liberia's capital, U.S. forces land

MONROVIA, Liberia -- Rebels lifted their siege of Liberia's capital Thursday and 200 American troops landed to support a West African peace force, breaking off a 10-week campaign that routed the president, killed over 1,000 civilians and left hundreds of thousands trapped and starving.

U.S. helicopters and attack jets swept back and forth over the capital as rebels withdrew, drawing cheers from tens of thousands of people who filled the streets and waved the flags of peace-force leader Nigeria and the United States.

"God bless you, Oga," women cried to convoys of Nigerians, using the Nigerian Yoruba language word for "boss." "God bless you, Marine," they sang to other vehicles filled with American troops.

The opening of Monrovia's port came three days after warlord-turned president Charles Taylor surrendered power and flew into exile under pressure from international leaders.

"All these years we've been praying for America to come," Randolph Eggley, a 51-year-old airport worker, said as he watched Marines jump out of helicopters Thursday in the first such U.S. mission in Africa since Somalia in 1993. "Today maybe peace will begin."

The rebels, who began their siege of the city on June 6, had pledged to pull out at noon Thursday if Taylor left and peacekeepers were deployed. President Bush had ruled out contributing a significant force until Taylor departed.

Brig. Gen. Festus Okonkwo of Nigeria marked the turnover in a handshake with rebel chief of staff Abdulla Sheriff on New Bridge, a no-man's-land linking rebel and government areas.

Rebels around the bridges and at the port abandoned their posts and sped away in pickup trucks loaded with stereos, sacks of food aid and other loot.

"Victory!" some insurgents chanted, on a street not far from the port. "We drove out Taylor!

"With the Americans here, we'll have a big party tonight," said one of the fighters, 16-year-old Tijango Famole.

Blocking off crowds

West African forces unrolled barbed wire across bridges to hold back crowds desperate to cross from the hungry government side and get food. Countless people in the capital have been subsisting on little but leaves.

Scores jumped into the Mesurado River and swam across. Some drowned.

"I don't mind risking my life," 42-year-old Arthur Karpemoh said after he swam across and began snapping up rice and oil in the bustling markets of the former rebel territory. "My family is hungry."

Col. Theophilus Tawiah of Ghana, the West African force's chief of staff, said peacekeepers had been ordered to seize only weapons Thursday. Bridges leading to the port area were to reopen today after more multinational troops have been deployed, Tawiah said.

As rebels pulled out, U.S. military helicopters touched down at Liberia's main airport, ferrying in 200 Americans -- Marines and other forces.

The United States on Wednesday promised a 150-member "quick reaction" force to support the growing West African-led troops. Another 50 new arrivals were slated to help get aid flowing again.

"We are just here to help the people," U.S. Sgt. Michael Hobbs said just after arriving.

"You are going to see American boots on the ground, and a firm commitment to uphold humanitarian concerns in this country," said U.S. Ambassador John Blaney, who went to the airport to greet the troops.

The United States previously had about a dozen soldiers on the ground in Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century.

Washington has stressed that the U.S. role would focus mostly on humanitarian assistance.

Nigeria, West Africa's military power, started flying in a second battalion of 700-800 men Thursday. The African force is expected to grow to about 3,250 soldiers.

Nigerian and U.S. troops rolled across the bridges even before rebels withdrew toward the port.

Within hours, at least 40 Marines had deployed to the port, moving in by helicopters and amphibious landing craft to seal one side. Aid workers said one ship loaded with three tons of food could dock as soon as today.

Widespread looting just before the handover emptied warehouses, but pillaging subsided after the West African peacekeepers moved in. At one point, three Nigerian soldiers watched as civilians emerged from the smashed doors of a shop with chairs and boxes of electronic goods.

Some rebel fighters lingered on side streets and far corners beyond the reach of the West African and U.S. troops.

Residents of the government side feared the force still was too weak to stop nightly looting and rape there by militias that backed Taylor.

"We welcome the Americans, and we welcome the Nigerians, but we need more troops on the ground," said Bati Nebo, a former U.S. Embassy guard who made his way into what had been the rebel side. "At night we don't know if the fighters will come."

The 10-day-old West African mission also is still weeks from moving out into the countryside, where clashes and vicious attacks on helpless civilians persist.

Pacts negotiated by West African military leaders and Blaney obligate the rebels to pull back to the Po River, about six miles outside Monrovia.

A second rebel group, based in the south, pledged to pull back to the St. John's River outside the southern city of Buchanan, Blaney said Thursday.

President Moses Blah, Taylor's former vice president, flew to Accra, Ghana on Thursday for ongoing peace talks with the rebels. Mediators said they hoped to sign a peace deal Saturday.

Draft proposals have Blah yielding power in October to a transition government, which would serve two years and preside over new elections. The deal would ban both sides from top posts in the interim government.