Liberia’s Doe Reported Ready to Step Down

Embattled President Samuel K. Doe has agreed in principle to resign, political sources said Tuesday. Rebels battled government troops in the capital’s suburbs.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Doe agreed to step down only on the condition that his safety and that of his minority Krahn tribe are guaranteed.

But they said few people believe that rebel leader Charles Taylor, a former Doe aide who fled when he was accused of embezzlement, would be able to restrain his people’s desire for vengeance.

Four U.S. warships are off the Liberian coast, and the United States has said it would evacuate Doe if he asked. The presence of U.S. Marines, even if there ostensibly to guard Americans, could be seen as a controlling influence on the rebels.

Doe’s administration has asked the United States to intervene on several occasions, but Washington has declined.

U.S. officials in Washington said Tuesday they believe Doe’s government could collapse within days. The officials, who asked not to be identified, said there have been a number of desertions from the elite unit that protects Doe.

A rebel leader in the United States, Tom Woewiyu, said the insurgents would not oppose a U.S. evacuation of Doe, who has ruled Liberia for a decade.

“If they can help him, God bless him. If they can’t, we’ll get him,” Woewiyu said. “If they can send a hook from the heavens to pull him up and take him out, fine, we wouldn’t mind that. We can try him later.”

A rebel source in neighboring Ivory Coast, meanwhile, said 800 insurgents were involved in attacks on Monrovia on Monday and several thousand more were advancing, bringing heavy artillery with them.

There were no reports of fighting Tuesday in Monrovia itself, where Doe was holed up in his heavily fortified executive mansion.

But the fighting continued two miles north of Monrovia’s port and farther west on the road to Sierra Leone near the Hotel Africa--the city’s biggest hotel complex.

Sounds of those battles could be heard in the city center.

There also was fighting in Paynesville suburb, which is within eight miles of Doe’s fortified Israeli-built executive mansion overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Western military sources said rebels who surrounded the city’s landward sides Monday had not advanced. It was unclear whether the rebels were regrouping, or if they were awaiting reinforcements.

Soldiers sent to put down the rebellion have turned on civilians from the Gio and Mano tribes--to which many rebels belong--pillaging homes, killing and raping. Rebels have retaliated by killing Krahns and those of the wealthier tribe of Mandingos, accused of supporting Doe.

For Monrovia residents, who have been without water since last Wednesday and without electricity since Friday, life got more difficult. Shops remained shuttered and barred. People went out briefly to search for food and water before retreating to the safety of their homes.

Diplomats expressed fears for more than 6,000 refugees of the Gio and Mano tribes who had taken refuge against troop reprisals at five churches and at the Japanese ambassador’s residence.