Liberia Rebels Tighten Grip on Capital; Troops Looting

Troops looted shops Thursday as rebels tightened their stranglehold on the Liberian capital and President Samuel K. Doe clung desperately to power.

Soldiers shot their way into shops, warehouses and restaurants and emptied the shelves in the early hours after the armed forces chief, Lt. Gen. Charles Julu, fled the country--the latest of Doe’s advisers to desert him.

Rebels led by former Doe associate Charles Taylor battled troops in the city’s eastern and western suburbs for a fourth consecutive day and were between three and 10 miles from Doe’s fortified beachside mansion.

Doe, who seized power in a bloody coup 10 years ago, said Tuesday that he would resign if his safety and that of his Krahn tribe were guaranteed. But he has shown no sign of leaving and rejected a U.S. offer to help him flee.

Julu, who also headed Doe’s executive mansion guard, left the country Wednesday. He had been chief of staff for only a few days since the weekend resignation of Lt. Gen. Henry Dubar, who also fled.

The rebels, who invaded Liberia from Ivory Coast six months ago, now control all land routes out of the capital.

As morning broke, frightened Monrovians ventured out into deserted streets and discovered at least 16 bodies after shooting that continued throughout the night.

Soldiers roamed the streets in stolen cars, firing in the air to frighten people and keep them back while they looted.

The only vehicles on the streets were driven by soldiers who left dead and wounded civilians by the roadside.

A man with three bullet wounds bled for four hours in the city’s main waterfront market despite pleas to soldiers to take him to the hospital.

Monrovia’s main John F. Kennedy Hospital, which like the rest of the city has been without water and power for more than a week, has been abandoned by doctors and nurses and most of its patients.