President Charles Taylor rejected a Nigerian offer of safe haven, partially because he feared that it won't protect him from the June 4th U.N. indictment on war crimes charges. Last month, Taylor had offered to cede power as part of peace talks toward ending the Liberia insurgency, but later retracted his offer (just like he had done before) and threatened serve out his term until January 2004. The cheapest and simplest solution to the roadblocks for Liberian peace would be to get rid of Taylor. 

Later in the day, the Bush administration decided to send a "fast team" to Monrovia (most likely the 50-75 Marines on standby in Spain). Unfortunately, the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, which had been sitting off the Liberian coast with a Marine expeditionary force aboard, returned to Norfolk, VA this week. Two weeks ago, there were about 450 U.S. troops "on the ground" in Monrovia, elsewhere in Liberia and in surrounding countries. They had been monitoring the situation and assisting French efforts to evacuate Western civilians, but were pulled out after the warring parties declared a cease-fire. - Adam Geibel

The US has demanded that president Charles Taylor resign. Meanwhile, at least 30,000 Liberian refugees have arrived in neighboring Ivory Coast.