Monrovia  - Researchers have identified swarms of mystery caterpillars that have been devastating crops and polluting water in Liberia, raising hopes that the problem could be tackled.

Researchers on Tuesday said the pests were not army worms, as previously thought, but caterpillars of the moth Achaea Catocaloides.

The creatures emerged almost a month ago in the remote Bong, Lofa and Gbarpolu counties and were now threatening the food security of about 350,000 people.

Monrovia - Mystery on Tuesday surrounded the swarm of caterpillars in Liberia which have devastated crops and prompted an official state of emergency, after officials admitted they could not identify them.

"They are not army worms, though we haven't determined what they are," Agriculture Minister Chris Toe told a news conference in the West African state's capital on Monday.

The head of the team set up by the government to investigate and contain spread of the pests, Dr J Qwelibo Subah, confirmed they are yet to identify the species.

Monrovia  - When over 200 prisoners broke out of Monrovia Central Prison just before Christmas, some may have felt that the inmates, many of them on remand, were justified in their actions.

The prison system in Liberia, which is still recovering from a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003, is notoriously bad, with inmates facing serious overcrowding and brutality from prison officers.

The Liberian government has often been criticized for turning a blind eye to the increasingly poor conditions in prison facilities across the country.

Washington - Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said her country was on track to become a strong and democratic economy after more than a decade of civil war, and welcomed US help after a meeting with President George W Bush.

Bush, who travelled to Liberia earlier this year, said the African nation still needed help from both the US and other countries, as it rebuilds its institutions following the ouster of long-time leader Charles Taylor in 2003.

Washington - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will meet with US President Bush on October 22 in Washington, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino announced Tuesday.

Their talks are expected to include the security situation in Liberia, which suffered civil war for most of the 1990s until 2003. Johnson Sirleaf, a US-educated economist, was elected president in 2005 and took office in January 2006.

She and Bush are also slated discuss efforts in impoverished Liberia to prevent malaria and improve education.