Arrival of US troops, looting, US ambassador, Liberian FM

Scores of US troops arrived in Liberia on Thursday as rebels ceded control of their territory in the capital, Monrovia, including the crucial port area.

The handing over of the port to West African and US troops lifted two months of sieges against the isolated and starving city.

A short time earlier, nine US military helicopters had landed scores of American troops at Liberia's main airport as two more hovered overhead.

On Wednesday the US had promised a 150-member "quick reaction" force in support of the steadily building West African-led peacekeeping force already in the country.

Another 50 new arrivals were expected to help with the logistics of getting aid flowing again to Liberia's cut-off
capital.

The United States previously had only about a dozen American soldiers in Liberia - serving as liaisons with the
10-day-old West African peace mission.

US Ambassador John Blaney, speaking at the airport, expressed optimism as the operation got underway.