MONROVIA, Aug 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - West African peacekeepers Saturday, August 9, were once again trying to access Monrovia's rebel-held port to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Liberia as insurgents said they would let in aid workers but would not pull out from the area immediately.

General Festus Okonkwo, the head of the Nigerian-led ECOMIL west African peacekeeping force, told Agence France-Presse (AFP): "We will go today, possibly in the afternoon" to the starved capital's northern areas, occupied by rebels since July 19.

The ECOMIL was rebuffed Friday when it attempted to reopen talks with rebels from the Liberians United for Democracy and Reconciliation (LURD) for entry to the sea-port, a crucial gateway for much-needed food and humanitarian supplies.

LURD deputy secretary general Sekou Fofana Saturday told reporters: "The port is not closed, we don't have keys for the doors," adding: "We will not close it to anybody including humanitarian workers.

"If they want to take their food, then we have no reason to object to that," he said, speaking in the Freeport area where hundreds of civilians were walking around as several armed rebel fighters kept a watch.

Fofana, however, said the rebels would not withdraw from the port until President Charles Taylor left the country for exile in Nigeria and stressed that an ECOMIL deployment there could not be rushed.

"It can't be done hastily. We can't force the peace. If you force the peace, you will be making a new war," he said, adding that ECOMIL and U.S. officials were due to meet the rebels later Saturday for discussions.

Gregory Blamoh, the country head of the World Food Program (WFP), Saturday said the presence of the ECOMIL at the port was vital for two reasons.

"First the port is a point of contention and if the ECOMIL were there, it would separate the two parties," he said.

"The port is a source of food for the city," he said, adding that a 400 gram cup of rice now cost 100 Liberian dollars (about two dollars) against 15 Liberian dollars three weeks ago.

Blamoh said "life is slowly grinding to a halt" because the port was cut off, adding: "This is not only a problem for the WFP but also for the private sector which also has warehouses in the port."

The peacekeepers need to gain control of the port to ensure that shipments of humanitarian aid can be brought in to Monrovia where more than a quarter-of-a-million people displaced by fighting are going hungry.

Despite the delays in reopening the port, an emergency convoy of aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres did manage to drive across the frontline to the port area Friday.

The teams found some 60 wounded civilians and fighters who were being treated in a clinic housed in a former brewery.

Meanwhile, three African heads of state were due to attend Monday's transition of power in Liberia when warlord-turned-President Charles Taylor, who now controls only a fifth of his war-battered nation, hands power to his deputy Moses Blah.

Taylor's spokesman Vanii Passewe said President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique and John Kufuor of Ghana would attend the ceremony.

Passewe said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo would not attend Monday's ceremony but would be represented by Foreign Minister Oluyemi Adeniji.

The spokesman said Taylor would make "a valedictory address" over the radio "sometime on Sunday."

Taylor, who has been indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed court in Sierra Leone, has agreed to step down at midday on Monday and start preparations to travel to exile in Nigeria, which has offered him asylum.

In an interview to CNN aired Friday, Taylor reaffirmed he would leave for Nigeria after quitting power.