Liberian chief of staff General Benjamin

Liberian chief of staff General Benjamin Yeaten poses on the front line 27 July 2003 in the outskirst of Monrovia, in an abandoned building used as a headquarters. Liberian rebels today captured a strategic bridge in their battle for Monrovia as the US ambassador urged them to withdraw from the capital of the war-ravaged west African country. The rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) "have crossed the bridge already and they are on the offensive," General Benjamin Yeaten told AFP early Sunday. Government forces have been ordered to prevent the advancing rebels from opening a new eastern front in their assault on the capital, Yeaten said while rain continued to pound the capital, as it has for days. AFP PHOTO GEORGES GOBET (Photo credit should read GEORGES GOBET/AFP via Getty Images)