US and West African officialsare to renew pressure on Liberian rebels today to openMonrovia's vital port and allow food supplies to flow tofamished refugees and residents in the capital.
Still uncertain of President Charles Taylor's promise tostep down on Monday and leave his ruined country, rebels arereluctant to leave ground they won in weeks of vicious streetbattles that left at least 2,000 people dead.
Outside Monrovia, fighting raged unabated for the secondcity of Buchanan and in the north of a country that has knownlittle but war for nearly 14 years.
Guns have fallen silent in Monrovia since some 800 regionalpeacekeepers flew in, but that has made the daily struggle forsurvival only a little easier for hundreds of thousands ofpeople scrabbling for whatever food they can find.
The US ambassador and the Nigerian peace force commanderwere to meet rebels based in the port again on Saturday topersuade them to relinquish their grip, as they had earlierpromised to do as soon as peacekeepers arrived.
Rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy(LURD) now say Taylor's forces must withdraw from the rest ofMonrovia first before they will quit the port.
They have also threatened to continue their fight if Taylorhands over on Monday, as planned, to Vice President Moses Blah- an ally from days of guerrilla training in Libya.
West African officials say that Blah's stay would only beshort, possibly just days, before a new interim president ischosen at peace talks in Ghana among Taylor's officials, rebelsand squabbling politicians.
Away from the capital, none of the warring factions hasrelented in the struggle to grab as much ground as possible.
Scores of people have been killed in fighting for the secondcity of Buchanan, which Taylor's forces have been trying torecapture from a faction known as Model.
"This is not looting, this is serious fighting," said SisterBarbara of the Franciscan Mission in Monrovia, in touch with theCatholic mission in Buchanan, where up to 9,000 people havetaken refuge.