Washington, Aug 25: One hundred fifty US Marines have left Liberia to return to ships stationed off the West African coast, media reports said. Cable news network quoted a Pentagon official as saying the arrival of a second Nigerian battalion of peacekeepers meant those forces had ''the capability to take over the mission''.

The reinforcements brought to 1,500 the number of regional peacekeeping troops. Another 1,700 regional troops from the economic community of West African states were expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
Also yesterday, there were reports on Liberian state radio of a number of killings in the hinterlands, in the Bahn region, but there was no official confirmation and it was not clear when the alleged incident took place.
Liberia is currently governed by a transitional government following a hard-won peace accord between the former government of exiled President Charles Taylor and two rebel groups.
Taylor two weeks ago stepped down from office to enable the peace agreement to take place. Bureau Report