Bush orders troops to Liberia

President George W. Bush yesterday ordered US troops to take up positions off Monrovia as mortar bombs pounded Liberia's capital in fighting between the government and rebels that threatens a humanitarian disaster.

The mortar bombs smashed into schools crammed with refugees, killing at least 14 people and wounding scores, as the rebels and forces loyal to President Charles Taylor battled for control of the coastal capital.

The mortar attack, the fiercest in four days, marked a bloody escalation in the seesaw week-long battle, the third time rebels bent on ousting Taylor have attacked Monrovia since June.

"We are deeply concerned the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse," Bush told reporters in Washington.

"Today I did order for our military in limited numbers to head into the area to help (support the deployment of West African peacekeepers in Liberia) to relieve human suffering," he said. Liberians feel the United States has a moral obligation to save a country founded by freed American slaves which has been crippled by nearly 14 years of almost non-stop brutal civil war.

Mortar bombs struck Newport Junior High School, where hundreds of displaced people had sought shelter, and killed eight people. Scattered belongings lay amid pools of blood. Bodies had been covered with white sheets.

Among the dead was 11-year-old Vaani Rogers, who like others had ventured out in search of water just after 7 a.m., hoping any new fighting would not have started early in the day.

"He went out with the kettle to get water to wash his face. I heard the rocket and I called him 'Vaani' but he was dead," said his father Morris. "I'm just crying."

Bush reiterated a demand that Taylor, indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed court, must leave Liberia.