Rebels fight their way into Monrovia city centre

Liberian rebels fighting to topple President Charles Taylor bombarded the capital city, Monrovia, with heavy mortar and rocket fire throughout the night and punched their way into the city centre on Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses said fighters of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement, seized control of Monrovia's Bushrod Island, where Liberia's deep water port is situated, and crossed the key Gabriel Tucker bridge into the Mamba Point area of central Monrovia, just before dawn. Fighting neared the US embassy and UN buildings later on Wednesday morning, pushing the LURD to within four km of the Executive Mansion, the headquarters of President Taylor. For the first time,the rebels fired rockets as well as mortar shells into various parts of the city. One rocket hit the Health Ministry, a few hundred metres from the Executive Mansion. Two others fell on the beach nearby. Another exploded in the eastern suburb of Sinkor. Taylor condemned the latest rebel attack on Monrovia in a speech broadcast by local radio stations on Wednesday morning, but he said he would remain in the city to encourage his fighters. Taylor said the peace talks in Accra, Ghana, would continue and the June 17 ceasefire agreement should be respected. "I have not left this city and I will not leave this city. I will remain to encourage my combatants to fight all the way," Taylor said. "My survival is the Liberian people's survival, your survival is my survival." But a diplomatic source in Accra said, the LURD's push into the very heart of Monrovia had dealt "a serious blow" to the peace talks. The rebels had earlier threatened to suspend their active participation in the discussions, portesting that Taylor had attacked their positions in contravention of the week-old ceasefire. The Liberian government delegation returned to Monrovia "for consultations". People begun streaming out of the city centre on Wednesday towards the eastern suburbs of Congotown and Paynesville, seven km away. Most government officials live in Congotown, but they stayed at home. The streets were quiet except for the movement of military units. Taylor said the rebel advance into the capital was an act of terror. "This blatant act of terror against this city which hosts more than two million people is unacceptable here in Liberia and must be unacceptable to the international community," he said. A senior government official told IRIN in Abidjan by mobile phone from Congotown that the situation had degenerated into "hell" and there was indiscriminate shooting in the city centre. "The LURD is using very heavy weapons and the government soldiers are trying to fight back. But people are getting hit," he said. He said the landline telephone network had gone dead and one radio station, DC 101 FM, had gone off the air. "I am trying to confirm why the phone system and the radio went off in the morning," he said. Monrovia's mobile phone network however continued to function. The head of the Catholic Church in Liberia, Archbishop Michael Francis, told IRIN by telephone from his compound in Sinkor that some people were killed by rocket fire in the western suburb of New Georgia close to the Freeport. Looting, he added, was reported in various parts of the city. "Nobody is going out. From my compound, I can hear the sounds of heavy gunfire. But I don't have details of what is happening in the city centre," the Archbishop said. The Sinkor area remained quiet. A relief worker in the city centre told IRIN on Wednesday morning that the situation was "completely upside down." He added: "There was shelling the whole night, fighting is continuing and displaced people are literally everywhere." The latest battle for Monrovia started over the weekend. LURD fighters reached the western edge of the city on Monday and advanced into its western outskirts on Tuesday, sending thousands of displaced people fleeing to the city centre. Many were abandoning their homes for the second time this month, after fleeing the first rebel incursion into western Monrovia three weeks ago. They had just returned to their homes following the ceasefire agreement. Another rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), which controls most of southeastern Liberia, has also reported heavy fighting with Taylor's forces in recent days. Between them, LURD and MODEL control about two thirds of Liberia. The country has been in a state of almost constant civil war since Taylor launched a rebellion against the military regime of Samuel Doe in 1989. Taylor fought his way to power and was formally declared president after winning elections in 1997. Fresh presidential elections were due to be held later this year.