: Advancing LURD rebels captured the St. Paul's Bridge (nine km from the city center) on the edge of Monrovia, pushing government troops back from the key crossing point into the city. During the morning they were moving towards the brewery, about seven km from the city center. The day before, a LURD military adviser said that they did not intend to seize Monrovia, but only to control the Po River bridge to prevent Taylor's forces firing on them. 

Police fired in the air, in an attempt to clear thousands of people demonstrating after a false rumor that West African peacekeeping troops had arrived at the port. A French photographer was wounded, received emergency treatment at the United States embassy and would eventually be evacuated overseas. 

Radio Veritas, a radio station run by the Roman Catholic church, went off the air when some mortar shells landed in the station's compound, damaging its equipment and six vehicles. At least 20 displaced people were killed when a shell landed on the Freemasons hall in the city center, where refugees had been hiding.

An official from the government-owned Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation noted that if no vessel docks in Monrovia with fuel within one week, the country will be completely paralyzed by lack of all petroleum products. - Adam Geibel 

Jul 18, 2003: Rebels have resumed their advance, moving to within 12 kilometers of the capital. This appears to be an attempt to occupy the maximum amount of territory before African peacekeepers arrive.

The US says it will not send troops until after UN peacekeepers arrive. President Charles Taylor says he will not leave until the Americans show up. The UN peacekeepers are likely to try and arrest Taylor for war crimes.

Jul 17, 2003: Shooting and explosions could be heard in areas where rebel and government troops have been facing each other. There were reports that rebels had attacked Klay Junctions (35 kilometers from the capital) and the nearby town of Sasstown.

Jul 16, 2003: Liberia's government and rebels would welcome US troops to their country, but the insurgents said they wanted the American presence to be "overwhelming." There is a "Catch-22" situation brewing, since President Bush won't commit US troops until President Taylor leaves Liberia and President Taylor won't step down until after the US, ECOWAS and the UN deploy a peacekeeping force in Liberia. 

Taylor claimed that he expected to leave Liberia shortly for Nigeria, but gave no date and left open the possibility of returning. However, Taylor has not carried out promises in the past and even if he does leave, there is the matter of the outstanding war crimes charges. Exactly how the Liberian loyalists would react to the peacekeepers if President Taylor ever went on trial is open to speculation. Furthermore, Taylor has described a US force of anything less than 3,000 troops as "a joke" and said that "you do not come into a country, drive its president out, and bring a Band-Aid approach to this country". 

Loyalist troops said that LURD forces were massing at Kley Junction, 38 km northwest of Monrovia, for a possible assault on the capital. On the 14th, government fighters were stopping all civilian vehicles at the Iron Gate checkpoint (13 km northwest of the city) on the road to Kley Junction. This critical point is three km beyond St Paul's bridge, which links the mainland to Bushrod Island where Monrovia's deep water port is situated.

After meeting with President Bush on the 14th, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters that following Taylor's departure, his plan would have an ECOWAS force reinforced by US troops would go in, which in turn would be replaced by a UN multinational force. While the size of such a US force is still being determined and probably won't be very large, they would also only be deployed for less than six months. Nigerian Brigadier General Festus Okonkwo was chosen to lead the ECOWAS force, which was mandated to monitor cease-fire lines in and around Monrovia.

The United States sent four aircraft and about 100 troops to Senegal and Sierra Leone on the 13th, to facilitate a quick exit if necessary for the Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team. Three HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from the US naval air station in Keflavik, Iceland, flew into Sierra Leone and one MC-130P Combat Shadow airplane from RAF Mildenhall air base flew to Senegal. - Adam Geibel

African countries have told the UN that peacekeeping troops could not be available to for service in Liberia for about two weeks. African armies tend to be casual, ill equipped and poorly trained. It takes time for them to get additional equipment and training before they head off for duty that might involve actual fighting.

Meanwhile. president Charles Taylor is in danger of getting killed by his own followers if he tries to go into exile. Taylor's followers know that the president provides leadership for the current ruling faction. Moreover, Taylor controls much of the money obtained by the current government using illegal diamond trading and other scams. If Taylor leaves the country, access to the money for his Liberian followers goes with him.