The United States urged the United Nations and Western African countries Sunday to take the lead in dealing with the political turmoil in Liberia.

The United States is willing to assist, but Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and the UN should take the lead in dealing with the complex political problems of Liberia, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told "Fox News Sunday."

"We are assisting, and we are taking a responsibility in Liberia that the British have taken in Sierra Leone and the Frenchin the Ivory Coast," he said.

President George W. Bush Friday ordered the deployment of a "limited" number of US troops off the Liberian coast to support the arrival of a West African peacekeeping force.

President Bush has made clear that "our job is to set the conditions for other people to step up to their responsibilities" in Liberia, Wolfowitz said.

The US role is to assist the United Nations and West African countries "to stabilize the situation, to avert a humanitarian disaster, he said. "And as part of that, it's necessary to get Charles Taylor (Liberian President) to leave the country and for the UN to begin a political process."

Wolfowitz said the US forces would go in "when there is a cease-fire, when Charles Taylor is leaving."

(Xinhua News Agency  July 28, 2003)