LIBERIA: Liberian rebels called a halt to the blistering battle for Monrovia yesterday following another day of intense shelling of Liberia's blood-soaked capital. The lull allowed frightened residents to emerge from their hiding places to search for food and water, and to bury their dead.
Defence Minister Mr Daniel Chea said at least 600 people have been killed in recent clashes but aid workers estimated that around 100 people have died since Monday when shellfire rained down on the city centre, killing dozens and hitting the US embassy compound.
The rebel leadership ordered their men to stop shooting after hours of serious exchanges with government forces around the bridges on the edges of Monrovia.
"We have told them to exercise restraint," said a spokesman for Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).
But the sound of continuing heavy gunfire suggested the order was not immediately obeyed.
Meanwhile West African leaders tried to hammer out the details of a promised deployment of 1,500 regional peacekeepers.
Angry Liberians continued to blame the US for failing to send peacekeepers following weeks of hesitation by President Bush.
They left the mangled bodies of 17 people, who died after a shell exploded near the US embassy on Monday, laid out on the street in front of the embassy complex yesterday morning.
Liberians saw it is a silent protest at US inaction. One man held a sign reading "Today G. Bush kill Liberia people" on Monday as US soldiers watched from behind bulletproof glass.
The US is sending 4,500 marines and sailors to Liberia by sea - they are not expected for at least a week - but the Bush administration continued to stall on whether they will have a combat mission.
"No decision has been made. The situation in Liberia now is dynamic," said White House spokesman Scott McClelland.
Pounding rain added to the misery of the estimated 200,000 people that have scrambled into central Monrovia to avoid the fighting outside. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR described the escalating humanitarian crisis as "horrific".
While some displaced have found shelter in houses or abandoned buildings, many others are sleeping in the open and being drenched by seasonal rains.
Aid workers said they could not resume work without military intervention.
"We need international peacekeepers here now, not in one or two months' time," said Mr Sam Nagbe of Oxfam from inside his house, where he was trapped.
"People here are really suffering, but as long as the fighting continues we are unable to help them. The US must commit troops now and end this waiting game that is costing lives." Diplomats continued to exert pressure on both the rebels and President Charles Taylor.
The European Union called for peacekeepers to be deployed "immediately", a move that "must be be accompanied by President \ Taylor stepping down."
And the US criticised the LURD for "reckless and indiscriminate shooting".
"If we're to trust them in the future to participate in the democratic governance of Liberia, we need to be able to see them keep their commitments now," a State Department spokesman said.
It was a change from previous rhetoric when the US focused its criticism only on Mr Taylor, who is wanted on war crimes charges.
Yesterday Liberia's warlord-turned-president buried his mother, Zoe, who died last month of natural causes.
He cried softly before the coffin in a church where bouquets of lillies bearing the words "Love" and "Peace". Fighting had prevented him from burying her in their home town of Arthington.