LIBERIA: Liberian rebels struck across a key bridge into the sprawling outskirts of the capital, Monrovia, yesterday, driving thousands of terrified refugees before them.
Crossing the St Paul river took the enemies of President Charles Taylor to within six miles of the centre of the city as peace talks brokered by West African leaders in Ghana were adjourned.
Under torrential rain, thousands of people poured into the choked city with whatever they could carry. President Taylor's troops moved to reinforce new lines of defence against Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).
"The fighting is getting closer and closer," said Mr Alain Kassa, head of mission for Médecins sans Frontières.
Liberia has been racked by civil war for much of the past 14 years, and many accuse Mr Taylor of exporting war and terror to neighbouring countries such as Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.
But now the President seems boxed in. Two rebel groups bent on toppling the former warlord are homing in on the capital, and he is wanted by a UN-backed court for war crimes committed during Sierra Leone's civil war in the 1990s.
In a sign of further pressure, Mr Taylor said on Thursday that a foreign-sponsored coup plot had been foiled. Vice-President Moses Blah was arrested and other senior officials detained.
Sources close to Mr Blah said he got a call from the US embassy urging him to take over while Mr Taylor was in Ghana. The sources said Mr Blah declined, but he was still detained.
Fleeing civilians said that, after crossing the St Paul river, the rebels were on the point of moving into densely packed suburbs swollen further by the influx of refugees.
Another bridge bars the way to the heart of the city, where thousands were killed during street battles in the 1990s.
Peace talks in Ghana between rebels and the government were adjourned until Monday to allow time for the group of rebels known as Model to turn
- (Reuters)