LIBERIA : African Peacekeeper Killed in Dispute

A West African peacekeeper was killed in a clash with gunmen at the port in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, during a dispute over a looted car, witnesses said. In the city center and around the Mamba Point diplomatic quarter, rival factions fought street battles for the fourth successive day. Relative calm returned later. Up to 20,000 civilians have taken refuge in a U.S. Embassy annex, the Greystone Compound, which is often caught in the cross-fire. Stray bullets have wounded or killed civilians there. Fighters loyal to faction leaders Charles Taylor and Alhaji Kromah circulate freely on streets outside the port, which is controlled by peacekeepers, but they are barred from entering.