Liberian Government Announces Cease-Fire : Africa: There is no response from rebels who demand that President Doe leave. Fighting continues in the capital.

President Samuel K. Doe’s shattered government announced a cease-fire on a makeshift radio station but sporadic fighting between Liberian soldiers and rebels continued Saturday on the fringe of the besieged capital.

A radio broadcast Friday night said a cease-fire had been reached and it appealed to shops to open and government workers to return to their offices.

Nearly everything remained closed, however.

Monrovians have been beset by looting government troops, rebels bent on tribal reprisals and severe food shortages, and deprived of running water and electricity for more than a week.

Many said they wanted to believe the cease-fire announcement but did not.

There was no comment from the rebels, but they have said previously that Doe must leave the country before they will accept a truce.

Led by former government aide Charles Taylor, the rebels invaded from Ivory Coast on Dec. 24 to overthrow Doe’s government, which they accuse of corruption, tribalism and brutal suppression of opposition.

Liberian and diplomatic sources said the cease-fire was announced from a makeshift radio station at Doe’s fortified beachside executive mansion. The radio went off the air after the announcement.

Few people heard the broadcast because the main state radio station on the eastern outskirts of Monrovia stopped broadcasting Tuesday as rebels advanced on the city.

The rebels have been unable to make good on their claim that they could take Monrovia within 12 hours.

Doe has been deserted by most of his Cabinet ministers, the two chief army commanders and dozens of other top officials. Government troops appear demoralized and disorganized, and many have abandoned their posts.

Rebels attacked the city’s port Friday, and the capital echoed with the rumble of heavy artillery and the crackle of gunfire. The fighting Saturday was sporadic and occurred on the city’s western and eastern outskirts.

Relief workers said about 40 people, civilians and soldiers, were treated for injuries at an emergency field hospital set up by the European agency Doctors Without Borders at a Roman Catholic hospital.

Hundreds of people, fearing tribal reprisals by soldiers or rebels, have been trying to get into overcrowded refugee compounds, some of which are protected by Swiss personnel of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Refugees said many people jumped a wall Friday night to join them at the American Community School.

Western diplomats said about 17,000 people had gathered for safety at the compound of the U.S. government’s ship-tracking transmitter. The transmitter, one of only seven of its kind in the world, fell behind rebel lines on Monday.

Managers at the Omega station, just outside Monrovia, have refused rebel demands that they hand over Krahns and Mandingos among the refugees.

Doe is of the Krahn tribe, and Mandingos are accused of supporting him and growing wealthy during his corrupt 10-year administration.

Creeks and wells in the city were crowded with people bathing or collecting water for cooking and drinking. Health officials fear outbreaks of cholera and other water-borne diseases.

A supermarket, the first to open for days, let in shoppers two or three at a time after they had lined up for more than an hour.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman denied a report Friday that the embassy had supplied water to Doe’s Israeli-built mansion. He said a water tanker escorted by Marines had gone Friday to a creek near the mansion to collect water for the embassy compound.

The United States has offered to help Doe leave Liberia. He reportedly has offered to resign on condition that his safety and that of his minority Krahn tribe is guaranteed.

After the rebels invaded, Doe’s forces killed hundreds of civilian members of the Gio and Mano tribes, seen as the main support base for the rebels. The rebels then sought revenge by killing members of the Krahn tribe and the Mandingo people, who supported Doe.

Rebel leader Taylor is a strong supporter of capitalism and he has widespread support in Liberia. But the United States and other governments have questioned his commitment to democracy and free elections.