LIBERIA: PRESIDENT TAYLOR VOWS NOT TO ATTACK US EMBASSY AGAIN

(22 Sep 1998) Natural Sound

Liberia's President Charles Taylor vowed not to attack the U-S Embassy again in Liberia, where a former warlord accused of treason has been holed up since the weekend.

The embassy has been on alert since the warlord Roosevelt Johnson unexpectedly arrived at the gate on Saturday morning.

His arrival sparked a police commando attack that killed at least three of his supporters and wounded two Americans.

The U-S embassy in Liberia's capital Monrovia has said that Roosevelt Johnson, the ethnic Krahn civil war rival of President Charles Taylor, had taken refuge there.

It also warned Taylor not to allow a street protest outside the building.

Reinforcements have been flown in to help guard the embassy following the attack upon the building over the weekend by a commando unit attempting to flush out Johnson.

In an attempt to try and smooth relations with the American Embassy, President Charles Taylor vowed not to attack the diplomatic compound.

Inside the compound, U-S servicemen were patrolling the grounds on Tuesday with assault rifles, while the handful of remaining diplomats moved about in flak jackets and helmets.

Liberian soldiers loyal to the former warlord, now president, Taylor tried to arrest Johnson on Saturday.

Fighting broke out on Saturday outside Johnson's house but he managed to escape and fled to the U-S embassy.

His house was then looted.

U-S Diplomats are reported to have said there are no plans to hand Johnson over to Liberian authorities and that American officials in Washington were talking with Taylor.

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