
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990                   TAG: 9006070272
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MONROVIA, LIBERIA                                LENGTH: Medium

AMERICANS PREPARE TO LEAVE LIBERIA

Loyalist troops killed a commander of rebels bearing down on the capital, and U.S. officials said Wednesday they were arranging special flights to evacuate Americans from Liberia.

The special flights, which begin Saturday, would allow several hundred American citizens to leave Liberia because of the deteriorating situation there, said U.S. officials in Washington.

The State Department is strongly urging the estimated 2,000 Americans in this West African nation to leave because of the concerns about personal safety.

Several miles off Monrovia, four U.S. warships carrying 2,000 Marines remained poised for a fourth day to evacuate Americans and other foreigners, officials said.

Another American official in Washington said President Samuel K. Doe had asked for U.S. help. The Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, corrected his earlier statement that Doe had requested American help to leave Liberia.

Diplomats in Monrovia said Doe had refused a U.S. offer of safe passage.

One Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Doe had requested American help but was told by U.S. diplomats he should attempt to reach some sort of accord with insurgent leaders. The official earlier said Doe had asked for help in getting out of the country, but he later amended his comment, saying he knew only that Doe had asked for U.S. help.

Doe met Tuesday with Christian and Moslem leaders who offered to mediate between him and the rebels. The meeting was stormy, with Doe angered by church leaders' suggestion he resign, an official source said.

Doe took over the country of 2.5 million people in a bloody coup 10 years ago. The rebels accuse his administration of corruption, economic mismanagement and human rights abuses.

Information Minister Emmanuel Bouwier and rebel forces on Wednesday reported the death of the U.S.-trained rebel commander, Elmer Johnson. Both sides gave no details of his killing.

Johnson said he served with the U.S. military and was a member of the American forces that invaded Grenada in 1983, though his claim could not be independently confirmed.

by CNB