The United States was sending 41 Marines to guard its embassy in Monrovia, Liberia's war-ruined capital where the fighting between government troops and rebels is growing fiercer.

A total of 41 Marines from the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, departed from Spain overnight, according to Maj. Bill Bigelow, a spokesman at the European Command in Stuttgart, Germanyon Monday.

US President George W. Bush has repeatedly urged Liberian President Charles Taylor to step down and leave his country. Meanwhile, the United States is under pressure to take a lead rolein the peacekeeping force for Liberia.

Taylor, who became the country's strongest warlord in 1996, haspledged to resign and accept an offer of asylum in Nigeria -- but only after peacekeepers arrive to ensure an orderly transition.

The Liberian civil war, which lasted about 15 years and claimedat least 200,000 lives, flared up again in 1998 following attacks launched by the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy in northern Liberia.

Civil war over the past decade has made Liberia among the most miserable places in the world and the latest unrest since 1998 hasforced some 300,000 Liberians to flee to neighboring countries andclaimed thousands more lives.

(Xinhua News Agency  July 22, 2003)