Liberia's nightmare continues as thousands flee

CIVILIANS fleeing by the thousands appealed yesterday for rescue, as a first trip into the countryside showed Liberia's nightmare was far from over with families clutching bone-thin babies speaking of nightly gunfire and barrages despite a week-old peace deal.

Exhausted refugees streamed south, or crowded by the thousands into dirt yards, schools and churches in and around the last government-held town, Zensu, on a road linking the rebel-held north to Monrovia.

With a still-building West African peace force yet to venture into the interior, families ran out, screaming for help, at the sight of some of the first civilian vehicles from the south.