WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some 4,500 more American sailors and Marines have been ordered to position themselves closer to Liberia to be ready for possible duty in the embattled West African nation, officials said Monday.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed a deployment order over the weekend sending a three-ship amphibious ready group from its position off the Horn of Africa into the Mediterranean Sea, defense officials said. That would put the group in a position to get to the west coast of Africa faster, if needed for an evacuation of Americans, peacekeeping or some other mission.
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The Bush administration doesn't want to send peacekeepers until Liberian President Charles Taylor steps down. Liberians, Taylor, and leaders from a number of countries have called for the United States to send some 2,000 troops to lead the force in Liberia, founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves.
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