Liberian Rebel Faction, Doe Agree to Truce

Liberian rebels who control half of the capital have agreed to a cease-fire with the government forces of President Samuel K. Doe, diplomats said Monday.

Doe’s closest adviser, Sellie Thompson, was believed to have arranged the truce with rebel leader Prince Johnson without waiting for the president’s approval, diplomats in Monrovia said.

The cease-fire began Saturday, hours after government soldiers killed an American Baptist missionary in the capital. Clark Alan Jacobsen, 41, of Oregon, was detained Aug. 16 and died in government custody, apparently from a gunshot wound, U.S. officials said.

Jacobsen’s body was handed over to the U.S. Embassy on Saturday. The United States has formally protested his death.

Another American, Andrew Voros, a former Peace Corps volunteer, was released unharmed Saturday after a week in detention. He has returned to the United States.

Within hours of the cease-fire, hundreds of government and rebel troops were together in the streets of the city, and both sides participated in widespread looting, witnesses said.

Rebels told civilians that they would join Doe’s forces in fighting the rebel faction led by Charles Taylor, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, Taylor snubbed peace talks that were to convene Monday in the Banjul, the Gambian capital. He said he would fight Doe and Johnson and accused the United States of supporting both.