The US is ready to provide financial backing for a west African peacekeeping force in Liberia, the undersecretary of state for Africa, Walter Kansteiner, said yesterday.

"Financial support has now been made available to Ecowas and the intervention force and we have funds to continue to support this force," he said in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) decided on July 4 to send 3 000 peacekeeping troops to try and end the war between government forces loyal to President Charles Taylor and rebels, who now control around four-fifths of the country.

But faced with the rising violence in the capital Monrovia and a deteriorating humanitarian situation, Ecowas proposed the urgent deployment of an advance contingent of 1 500 troops from Nigeria, west Africa's military powerhouse.

But Nigeria had expressed concerns over the funding of the mission, with senior officials saying the country wanted better guarantees of support from the international community. – Sapa-AFP.