LIBERIA Foreign-aid workers, journalists evacuated

Liberia's president called for President Bush to 'bring some sanity' to the country.
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- Mortar barrages and some of the bloodiest fighting to date tore apart Liberia's capital, as Marines at a U.S. Embassy compound evacuated foreign-aid workers and journalists in helicopters.
Defense Minister Daniel Chea said the death toll was well over 600 people, but there was no way to independently confirm the figure. Aid groups and hospitals have put the number of dead above 90 but say they expect the toll to rise.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press on Monday, embattled Liberian President Charles Taylor repeated his call for a promised West African peacekeeping force to arrive quickly to "bring some sanity" to the nation founded by freed American slaves.
But Taylor said the best way to ensure stability was through U.S. troops on the ground, in addition to the Marines guarding the U.S. Embassy.
"An American contingent would be excellent," he said.
Another attack
Meanwhile, a storm of mortars rocked residential neighborhoods along with two U.S. Embassy compounds in rebels' third attempt to take Monrovia -- Taylor's last stronghold. An American journalist was among the injured.
American helicopters landed in the Embassy compound in a driving rain Monday, dropping off about half of a 41-member Marine security team. The troops, who were sent to beef up security at the embassy, evacuated about 23 foreign humanitarian workers and journalists.
Clutching bags and backpacks, the evacuees ran to the spinning aircraft as Marines and embassy officials shouted: "Go! Go!" Among them were the United Nations' last seven foreign staffers, who had returned to Monrovia just two weeks earlier during a lull in fighting.
U.S. moving in
U.S. officials announced that 4,500 more American sailors and Marines have been ordered to position themselves closer to Liberia, if needed for an evacuation of Americans, peacekeeping or some other mission.
"We're concerned about our people," President Bush told reporters in Crawford, Texas. He indicated he had not yet decided the size of a U.S. force that might be sent to help a promised West African peacekeeping mission in Liberia.
The State Department criticized the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy for "reckless and indiscriminate shooting" and appealed to neighboring African countries to guard against weapons going to Liberia.
Joe Wylie, a rebel delegate at peace talks in Ghana, said the government was also firing shells.
The rebels were "not responsible for shooting mortars into the embassy," Wylie said. "We have our backs to the U.S. Embassy. ... They [government forces] were shooting at us."
The aftermath
During 21/2 hours of sustained mortar fire, a shell slammed into a U.S. Embassy residential compound where some 10,000 terrified Liberians had taken refuge, killing 25 people, aid workers said. Many more were wounded, including two Liberian embassy guards.
Some 65 others were killed in other strikes.
After the blasts, enraged Liberians dragged bodies from the residential compound and lined them up in front of the embassy, next to a wall emblazoned with the American seal. The group demanded to know why Washington has not sent troops to end more than a decade of strife in the West African nation.
"We're dying here," screamed some in the crowd, as two American servicemen in camouflage watched from behind bulletproof glass.
One man held up a hastily scrawled sign: "Today G. Bush kill Liberia people."
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