ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604150115
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MONROVIA, LIBERIA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Overwhelmed as civil war descended into anarchy, even the most stalwart of emergency aid groups prepared Saturday to follow 1,655 terrified foreigners who have already fled Monrovia.
The exodus was bitter to those being left behind, abandoned in the midst of looting and urban warfare with little evidence that a new cease-fire will hold. Even boys as young as 10 were joining in the violence.
``We are dying here,'' said Joseph Johnson, a Liberian. ``Where is the international community?''
After eight days of gunfire and frequent shelling, aid workers said they were pulling out because of the ``absolute anarchy'' in Liberia's seaside capital. The United Nations and the Red Cross said they were leaving Liberia, despite the growing needs of what U.N. authorities said were an estimated 60,000 civilians rendered homeless by the fighting.
Even Doctors Without Borders said it was planning to withdraw its team. Like the Red Cross, the international aid group works in dangerous, violent conditions and is traditionally among the last to leave areas of conflict.
``There is continuous looting,'' said Red Cross spokesman Rolin Wavre. ``People are getting more and more drunk and on drugs, so it's pretty much out of control.''
In seven years of fighting between rebels and government troops, nearly half of this West African country's 2.6 million people have crammed into Monrovia.
No one knows how many people have been killed in recent days, although dozens of decaying bodies have been seen on the streets and at least 13 people were confirmed dead.
The U.S. military had ferried out 1,655 people by Saturday afternoon, and a U.N.-chartered boat was headed north toward neighboring Sierra Leone carrying its employees and foreign women and children.
About 25 Liberians arrived in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, on Saturday after an exhausting overnight sea voyage. Another 1,000 were expected Saturday night. One passenger, David Freeman, described how even boys - 10 or 12 years old - were joining the violence in the capital.
Pentagon spokesman Brian R. Kilgallen said Saturday that of the foreigners evacuated, 458 were Americans.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Fighters from one Liberian faction pass the U.S.by CNBEmbassy in Monrovia on Saturday. color