MONROVIA, Liberia ? Liberia’s rebels and government troops battled Thursday for the capital’s port, dueling with guns and grenades as West African leaders promised the first troops of a multinational peacekeeping force within a week.

At a makeshift refugee camp at an American rubber plantation outside the capital, famished, rain-soaked and desperate survivors of the latest siege said the peacekeepers might come too late.

“In one week’s time … our brothers and sisters will die,” said Prince Dorboryan, a 25-year-old student.

Behind him, hundreds of children jostled for a daily spoonful of rice given to the youngest refugees at the rubber farm.

“What is happening in Liberia is no joke,” Dorboryan emphasized, while countless children, beaten out in the scramble for the mouthful of rice, stood crying. “People are dying.”

West African, U.S. and U.N. officials met in neighboring Sierra Leone to plan deployment of the vanguard force of the armed peace force, pledged repeatedly since June as rebels opened the first of three waves of attacks on Monrovia.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, executive secretary of West Africa’s leading regional bloc, said a 770-member Nigerian battalion would reach Liberia within a week.

“If before, fine, but not beyond a week,” Chambas told The Associated Press. “As you know, we’ve already lost too much time.”

The United States has provided $10 million for the deployment, and was being asked for further logistical support for the Nigerian troops, said Nigerian Lt. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai.

“We want to make sure that everything is worked out properly before we go in, so that once we go in, we will deliver,” he said.

Privately, officials in Nigeria say debate over who will pay for the deployment is delaying the rescue mission.

A child cries after missing out in the crowd to receive a spoonful of rice at the Firestone rubber plant about 31 miles southeast of the Liberian capital of Monrovia. The plant, which is the second largest in the world, has become a refuge for people fleeing fighting in the capital, where food is in short supply.