Military

DATE=08/22/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-306747

TITLE=LIBERIA / HUMANITARIAN (L)

BYLINE=SARAH SIMPSON

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT:

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: SAME AS SHORT, WITH TWO SENTENCES ADDED AT THE END ///

INTRO: Ghanaian troops will be joining their Nigerian counterparts for peacekeeping operations in Liberia today (Friday) as rebels renew promises to allow free passage to aid workers delivering food. Sarah Simpson reports from the V-O-A's west Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: A contingent of Ghanaian soldiers is joining 900 Nigerian troops already on the ground to extend peacekeeping operations in Liberia.

Rebel leaders in Liberia have reiterated assurances of safe passage for aid workers wanting to distribute supplies to rebel- held territory. The United Nations, hit by a terror bombing in Baghdad Tuesday, has said it wants guaranteed security for its personnel before U-N workers distribute food and medicine in those territories.

The U-N special envoy to Liberia, Jacques Klein, had said earlier that around five-thousand peacekeepers would be needed in the capital Monrovia alone to assure security for U-N workers.

Even though additional peacekeeping troops are expected from Mali and Senegal in the coming days, the total number of west African peacekeepers will add up only to about three-thousand men.

Outside of Monrovia, there are continued reports of skirmishes between government and rebel factions. In Bong county about 100 kilometers northeast of Monrovia, aid workers are reporting fighting close to camps where an estimated 60-thousand displaced people are living.

No time frame has yet been set for the deployment of the peacekeeping operation to all regions of the country. (SIGNED)

NEB/SS/MAR/KL