Some 200 US Marines could go ashore briefly in Liberia to support West African forces there, but not all would remain overnight, the Pentagon said today.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Norton Schwartz, director of operations for the US military's Joint Staff, said the 200 Marines would be part of a quick reaction force in reserve to help Nigerian peacekeepers if necessary.
"There is a reaction capability should something unexpected occur," he said, declining to go into detail about US security plans for Liberia.
Liberian rebels pledged yesterday to withdraw from the capital Monrovia, one day after Mr Charles Taylor quit as president and went into exile under international pressure.
Some 2,300 US Marines are aboard warships off the coast, and a defense official said small groups of these troops could be flown into the capital in the days ahead to help with tasks such as humanitarian aid.
Today, Liberians stormed Monrovia's port to grab food as rebel fighters packed up to hand over control to US-backed West African peacekeepers.
The rebels have promised to pull out of the port tomorrow to allow food shipments to hundreds of thousands of famished people in a city, where recent fighting left 2,000 dead.