Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990 TAG: 9007220089
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MONROVIA, LIBERIA LENGTH: Medium
In neighboring Sierra Leone, the government's official delegation to peace talks called on Doe to step down.
A Liberian government communique accused the head of the U.S. mission, Col. David Staley, of providing support to the rebels and urging government forces to defect.
In Washington, a State Department spokesman said the accusations were "entirely without foundation."
"Our embassy has protested vigorously to the government of Liberia," said the spokesman, Adam Shub. He said Staley had left Liberia, but did not say how.
The expulsion came a day after the U.S. government refused yet another appeal to send in the Marines from warships off the coast. Some Liberians have asked the United States to send in the forces as peacekeepers.
Heavy fighting drew closer to the center of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, as government troops fought with the rebels in the port, one mile west of Doe's executive mansion.
The rebels, who began their offensive in December, had overrun most of northern Monrovia on Friday, capturing the city's 2-square-mile port area in the northern suburb of Bushrod Island.
Reporters on Saturday saw government tanks and troops taking up defensive positions on the Monrovia side of the two bridges that lead to the central city.
Heavy fighting could be heard on the far side of the bridges, and people who had visited the city's eastern suburbs said they were in rebel hands.
The rebels advanced to the edge of Congotown, six miles from the beachfront mansion of Doe, who has resisted pleas to leave the country.
Rebels have demanded his departure as a condition for accepting a cease-fire.
Representatives of the government and the rebels have met intermittently for peace talks in neighboring Sierra Leone, but the negotiations have failed to make any progress.
The Liberian government's delegation in Freetown issued a press release Saturday calling for Doe to resign.
The statement, signed by Information Minister Emmanuel Bowier, said the delegation on Saturday "advised President Doe, in the supreme interest of our nation and people, to make the supreme political sacrifice in order to save Liberia from further destruction of lives and properties and to ensure his personal safety."
The statement said the peace talks had "collapsed."
Doe was holed up with about 500 soldiers of his Krahn tribe. Many Krahn fear a massacre at the hands of the Gio and Mano tribesmen who make up the bulk of the rebel force of Charles Taylor, a former Doe aide.
by CNB