Westerners evacuated as Liberia unrest grows

FRENCH military helicopters evacuated Americans and other foreigners from the besieged capital of Liberia at dawn yesterday, ferrying them out of embassy compounds to a ship in the Atlantic.

The evacuations to the French navy ship came as Liberian soldiers reported more fighting on the western edge of the city, and explosions sounded in the distance.

Helicopters left first from the white-walled, barbed-wire-topped compound of the European Union, on a hillside overlooking the ocean, which houses European diplomatic staff Liberia.

The aircraft then touched down at the neighbouring US Embassy compound, collecting about 100 Americans who had gathered overnight.

EU forces stood guard with heavy weapons as aid workers, ducking against debris from the twirling blades, ran down a rocky hillside and climbed into the aircraft.

“We can’t work, and we had to leave,” said Isabelle de Bourning, of French aid group Medecins sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, running for the helicopter. “I hope it will be quick.”

A total of 91 foreign residents were evacuated from the compound, said David Parker, acting head of the EU mission in Liberia.

The evacuation had been planned at least since the weekend, when rebels fighting to oust Liberian President Charles Taylor made two pushes into the city outskirts.

Pro-Taylor militia fighters raced through the city in jeeps at dawn yesterday with mounted cannons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Thousands of terrified civilians were on the move, heading for the city’s eastern suburbs.