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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 9, 1990                   TAG: 9006090029
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: MONROVIA, LIBERIA                                LENGTH: Short

LIBERIAN GOVERNMENT READY TO NEGOTIATE

The government said Friday it was willing to accept a cease-fire and begin negotiating with a rebel army, which withdrew after intense battles at a town outside the capital.

Information Minister Emmanuel Bouwier said the latest news from the battle front was that government troops had recaptured Harbel, where the U.S.-managed Firestone rubber plantation is located. It is about 25 miles southwest of Monrovia.

Bouwier said President Samuel Doe was sticking to his vow to refuse to meet rebel leader Charles Taylor. Doe took power in a bloody coup in 1980. The rebels accuse his administration of corruption, economic mismanagement and human-rights abuses.

"The government of Liberia will negotiate with the Patriotic Front. The president of Liberia will not negotiate with the person of Charles Taylor, but the president is not the government," Bouwier said.

- Associated Press

by CNB