Liberia's main rebel faction wants US troops to have "an overwhelming presence" on the ground in Liberia and them to arrive before a West African peacekeeping force, a spokesman said today.
The spokesman for Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) was speaking from Accra, Ghana, where he is taking part in peace talks.
"We would like to see an overwhelming presence of American troops on the ground. Whatever it takes to help us," he said, without giving further details.
US President George W. Bush said yesterday he was open to sending US troops but that any deployment would be "limited in size and limited in tenure". Mr Bush also said Liberian President Charles Taylor must first leave.
He has pledged to help enforce a fragile ceasefire between rebels and Mr Taylor's troops, but the US President said he had not yet made a final decision on a possible deployment.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said after meeting Mr Bushthat regional peacekeepers would initially send 1,000 to 1,500 troops. Then Mr Taylor would leave, while at the same time US troops would arrive as well as more soldiers from West Africa.
"We would prefer the Americans to come in first and not theother way around," the LURD spokesman said. "It makes a big difference . . . it would be a psychological comfort to see new faces," he said.
Liberia has been torn by almost non-stop conflict for 14years, including a civil war in the 1990s that killed 200,000 people.