Rebels advance on Liberian capital

LIBERIA'S rebels have pushed down a major highway towards the capital Monrovia, aid workers said yesterday as thousands of civilians fled the latest clashes, casting doubt on an increasingly rocky peace deal.

Reports of the rebel advance through Liberia's lawless interior came after a weekend of skirmishes with government troops and accusations of a civilian massacre, prompting calls for African peacekeepers to deploy outside the capital.

Rebel factions Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (Model) struck a peace deal with the government last week to end nearly 14 years of strife in the West African country.