Liberian troops blocked a US military team from entering a refugee camp today as President George W. Bush vowed to work with the United Nations and Africans for peace in the country.
Mr Bush said he had still not decided whether to send US peacekeepers into the West African state, founded by freed American slaves as a haven of liberty in the 19th century.
The US reconnaissance mission to Liberia got off to a bad start today when the Americans, who arrived a day earlier, were halted by forces loyal to Liberian President Charles Taylor outside the capital Monrovia.
The Liberians stopped the US convoy at the Iron Gate checkpoint as it headed for a camp housing thousands of refugees.
"We got turned around. The military turned us around," a US embassy official said. "I don't know why." There was no immediate comment from Liberian officials.
Speaking on the first day of a visit to Africa, Mr Bush said he would work with the United Nations and regional bloc ECOWAS on maintaining a ceasefire in the country which has been torn by nearly 14 years of civil war.
"We're in the process of determining what is necessary to maintain the ceasefire," Mr Bush told reporters after a meeting with West African leaders in Senegal.
He also reiterated his demand that Mr Taylor step down. Mr Taylor said on Sunday he would accept an asylum offer from Nigeria but it was not clear how soon he would go.
Liberians want US peacekeepers to help years of violence and believe that only they can win respect from the generation of young fighters nurtured on war and inured to atrocities.
Cheering crowds thronged the streets of Liberia's coastal capital shouting "We want Bush" as the American team drove through. At one point, police fired shots in the air to drive back the crowds. The US survey team - 32-strong including its Marine security contingent - is seen as a possible precursor to a larger force, which the United States is considering.