Taylor "needs to step down, so that his country can be spared further bloodshed," Bush said in a policy speech to the Corporate Council on Africa, a US-based organization that seeks to boost trade and investment ties between the United States and Africa.

He also expressed support for a cease-fire signed earlier this month by the Liberian government and two separate rebel groups, which created an interim government excluding Taylor.

"All the parties in Liberia must pursue a comprehensive peace agreement and the United States is working with regional governments to support those negotiations and to map out a secure transition to elections," Bush said.

The United States "is determined to help the people of Liberia find the path to peace," said Bush.

But last week, the Liberian president said he would serve until the end of his term in January and might run again whenever elections are held.

Intense fighting over the last three days has shattered the truce as rebels launched a successful bid to enter the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

Earlier Thursday, Liberia's defense minister, Daniel Chea, said troops loyal to President Taylor had forced rebels back about 10 kilometers from the heart of Monrovia to the area around St. Paul's Bridge.

During his policy speech on Africa, the US president unveiled a 100-million-dollar anti-terrorism package for East Africa.

Bush said over the next 15 months, his administration will fund anti-terrorism efforts in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, and Tanzania. He said the money will be used to bolster local efforts to tighten port security, gather intelligence, and cut off terrorist funding.

He also urged the former combatants in the Democratic Republic of Congo to speed up the establishment of an interim government and the creation of an integrated army by June 30.

"To encourage progress across all of Africa, we must build peace at the heart of Africa," Bush said.

He emphasized the importance of achieving a peace agreement in Sudan and said he would return his special envoy to the country in two weeks to help two warring sides "finalize a just and comprehensive peace agreement."

The envoy "will make clear the only option on the table is peace," Bush said. "Both sides must now make their final commitment to peace and human rights and end the suffering in Sudan."

On trade, the US president asked for an extension of AGOA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, beyond 2008. The US initiative was signed in 2000 and offers incentives to participating African nations to open their economies and build free markets.

Bush will make his first visit to Africa as US president from July 7 to 12. He is scheduled to visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria.

(Xinhua Mews Agency June 27, 2003)