Liberian Rebels Advance, Meet Little Resistance

MONROVIA, Liberia â€”  Rebel troops seeking to topple the government of President Samuel K. Doe advanced on the capital Saturday and appeared to be meeting little resistance from government forces.

Correspondents who drove the 35 miles from Monrovia to the airport, where the rebel advance had stalled earlier, said the only government troops in sight were 20 men manning a roadblock between the airport and the capital.

No major clashes were reported Saturday, but tensions were high as the capital awaited the approach of troops fighting for rebel leader Charles McArthur Taylor, a former civil servant whose National Patriotic Front of Liberia launched an invasion six months ago.

The war has turned into a bloody tribal feud pitting Gios and Manos supporting Taylor against Krahns backing Doe.

Saturday, the only significant military presence in the capital was around Doe’s executive mansion, where 2,000 Israeli-trained troops of his elite Special Anti-Terrorist Unit were stationed.

It was not immediately clear what happened to the remainder of Doe’s 5,300-member army.

In any case, residents of the city of 500,000 braced for a heavy battle. Rice, a staple, was in short supply, many market shelves were empty, power outages were frequent, and there had been no running water for two days.

The Red Cross officially began protecting refugees from the civil war Saturday, flying its flags at a Lutheran Church center in Monrovia occupied by more than 1,300 people, most from the Gio and Mano tribes.

At least one person was reported killed and 30 to 40 abducted after soldiers of the ruling Krahn tribe attacked a U.N. compound Wednesday, prompting the United Nations to evacuate international staff.

More than 1,000 people have been killed since the fighting broke out in December.

In a last-ditch effort to end the fighting, Doe said Friday that he would not seek reelection in next year’s presidential race. He asked the United States, which has sent warships toward the Liberian coast to evacuate U.S. citizens, to help negotiate an end to the fighting.