Military

DATE=2/4/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=LIBERIA / FIGHTING (L-O)

NUMBER=2-299210

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Fighting is raging in Liberia, where residents say rebel attacks have come within 40-kilometers of the capital, Monrovia. V-O-A's Luis Ramirez reports from our West Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: Residents poured out of their villages and headed on foot toward the capital, saying they had heard heavy gunfire in the area of Klay, about 35-kilometers northwest of Monrovia.

Monday, Liberian government officials and witnesses said the rebels had gone as far as Tubmanburg, about 60-kilometers northwest of the capital. The town still bears scars from years of civil war during the 1990's that ultimately put President Charles Taylor, a rebel leader, in power.

The rebels fighting Mr. Taylor's forces are with the group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy.

The insurgents have held much of the northwest for nearly two-years, after launching their attacks from bases in neighboring Guinea. Their headquarters are in the northern Liberian town of Voinjama, which loyalist forces have tried, but failed, to take on several occasions during the past year.

Rebels have intensified their attacks before presidential elections scheduled for later this year. The rebels say they are stepping up their campaign to oust Mr. Taylor because they do not believe he will allow the elections to be free and fair.

Critics of the Liberian president have pointed to him as a source of instability in the West African region. His government remains under U-N sanctions for his support of rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Most recently, the government of Ivory Coast has accused Mr. Taylor of allowing his forces to fight as mercenaries alongside Ivorian rebels who are trying to overthrow President Laurent Gbagbo.

Mr. Taylor has denied the charges, and accused the international community, especially the United States, of conspiring against him. (SIGNED)

NEB/LR/KL/RAE/FC