Help needed to end 'horrific' situation in Liberia, says UNHCR

The situation in Liberia has been described as "horrific" by the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, following a period of intense fighting between government and rebel troops which may have claimed the lives of around 600 civilians.

The UN aid agency said that it now had "grave concerns" over the fate of tens of thousands of people now crowding into Liberian capital, Monrovia.

To make the situation worse, the agency said, it has had to suspend an emergency sealift it had been operating since the start of the month to move Sierre Leonean refugees in Liberia back to their country's capital Freetown. Some 15,000 Sierra Leoneans, who originally fled a civil war in their own country, had been living in and around the Liberian capital. The UNHCR said it had lost contact with many of them since a resumption of fighting last Friday.

High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has renewed his appeal for support for calls from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the rapid deployment in Liberia of an international peacekeeping force.

With the situation seriously destabilised in the west African nation – and its president calling for greater military intervention – the US has sent a three-ship battle group from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean Sea.

The USS Iwo Jima, the USS Carter Hall and the USS Nashville – carrying roughly 2,500 sailors and another 2,000 Marines – could be able to reach the coast of Liberia in seven to 10 days if called upon.

The US has also announced that a team of 21 US Marines has arrived in Monrovia today.

The troops were deployed after the US ambassador to Liberia requested assistance, however this was only to add security to the US embassy in the Liberian capital.

The prospect of more direct intervention is unlikely in the immediate future as fewer than 200 US service members are currently serving in western Africa.

(GMcG)