Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: West African ship shells rebels, halts attack on Monrovia Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 17:03:26 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD West African ship shells rebels, halts attack on Monrovia \BY Robert Weller \CR ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT MONROVIA, Liberia MONROVIA, Liberia - A West African gunboat shelled rebel positions near Monrovia, repulsing a rebel attack that ended a three-day lull in fighting around the capital, a spokesman for the West African force said yesterday. East of the capital, a port city that is a vital supply link for the rebels was reported deserted after a bombing raid by the seven-nation West African force. The force was sent to Liberia in August 1990 to end a civil war that had claimed 60,000 lives. It imposed a truce that largely held until August. But its mandate changed after rebel leader Charles Taylor, whose troops had overrun most of the country after invading from Ivory Coast in December 1989, launched an assault on Monrovia on Oct. 15. His fighters have come within three miles of the city, but the West Africans, led by Nigeria, sent in more troops and appeared to remain in control of the capital. Mr. Taylor's radio station warned residents of Bushrod Island, where the West African troops are based, to leave. "I am going to hit Bushrod Island any time I feel like it," he said. Brig. S.V.L. Malu, the Nigerian commander of the West African force, said West African presidents had approved an offensive to drive the rebels away from the capital and block further attacks on his troops. The military strike will not begin, however, until more weapons and men arrive, he said. In the latest fighting, guerrillas infiltrated from mangrove swamps and began firing on positions on the outskirts of Monrovia late Saturday night, Brig. Malu said. A Nigerian gunboat retaliated with some of the heaviest shelling heard in days. Small-arms fire and shelling could be heard until just before dawn yesterday. Brig. Malu also said his troops had retaken a former rebel base at Caldwell, six miles northeast of Monrovia, which was used as a staging area for the rebel assault on the capital. The base has changed hands four times since Oct. 15. Mr. Taylor accused the West Africans of bombing civilian areas Saturday in Buchanan, a port 90 miles east of the capital that the rebel leader uses to bring in supplies. Relief workers in touch with Buchanan said yesterday that most of the city's 50,000 people fled after the bombing, leaving it nearly deserted. Mr. Taylor also said West African warplanes hit the American-run Firestone rubber plantation 35 miles east of the capital. He said the plantation's hospital had been hit in a raid Friday by warplanes. The rebel leader predicted that Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso would send troops to join the West African forc. Both countries are seen as supporters of the rebel leader, and he said their arrival would make it possible to set up a lasting cease-fire and prepare for elections. At a meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Nov. 7, West African presidents voted to impose sanctions on Mr. Taylor if he failed to observe a cease-fire. They also said other countries would be joining the peacekeeping force, but there has been no confirmation of participation by Burkina Faso or Ivory Coast. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM