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Marines Reinforcing Security at Embassy in Liberia

Aired July 21, 2003 - 10:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, one other story we are following this morning is the intense fighting in the Liberian capital this morning of Monrovia. U.S. Marines have been called in there to protect the U.S. embassy and to ensure the safety of Americans on the ground. Rebel forces are trying to unseat Liberian President Charles Taylor, and the American embassy now is in the crossfire.
Our Jeff Koinange is in the capital city of Monrovia, and he joins us right now on the phone.

And, Jeff, as we've been hearing over the last few hours or so, it seems as though the fighting there will not die down at all.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at all. Leon, I can tell you, it's been raining mortar fire here outside the U.S. embassy compound. In fact, several of us did actually see the mortars landing in the Atlantic Ocean right beyond the embassy perimeter. We've been reporting from the fortified U.S. embassy.

For the last 24 hours, we heard at least about a dozen mortar shells exploding all around the compound. We also hear several other shells in downtown Monrovia. One hit a building in which an unconfirmed 18 people are dead, and another one, unconfirmed five people are dead. We also hear fighting has intensified in the streets, and yes, Leon, things are extremely fluid right now.

HARRIS: Well, With all of these mortars being lobbed over there near the embassy, are you assuming or believing at this particular point that the embassy itself is the target of these attacks?

KOINANGE: It appears so, Leon. Coming so close and at this time, it appears that way, although embassy officials aren't commenting right now. What they did is told all journalists, they've evacuated us into what they're calling a safe building, because they feel it's too dangerous out there in the street, so they feel if they are indeed a target, the best thing to do is get at least a few dozen journalists and aid workers out of harm's way and into a secure building -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, so we understand that some more Marines have been called in to protect those people that are there in that compound. Do you know whether or not the Marines are actually on the ground there yet or not, or when they will be there?

KOINANGE: We can't confirm that, Leon, but what we can confirm is that the U.S. ambassador to Liberia, John Blaney (ph), was in contact with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the call was made to deploy what they call the fast team, usually based in Rotar (ph), Spain (ph), but has been in nearby Spreetown (ph), Sierra Leone the last few weeks. That call has been made to deploy those special forces. So that's all we know right now, Leon.

HARRIS: What about Charles Taylor, the president, who is supposedly working out some sort of an amnesty deal, some sort of a deal where he will be going either to I believe Nigeria, or Ghana or whatever or some place else, and that is seen as being the move that will actually deflate tensions there in the country. What is the latest on that?

KOINANGE: The latest we heard from him was two days ago, Leon, where he did say in a report that he vows to fight to the last man. He ordered his soldiers to go street to street, house to house to make sure, in his own words, that the hooligans are chased out of town, and then the rebels came back saying, this is not a military coup this is pressure we're applying on embattled President Charles Taylor to leave. So it's basically a standoff, and with the mortar shells raining all over town, Leon, this looks like it's not going to end anytime soon.

At the same time, this doesn't bode well for any would-be peacekeepers. If they were planning on coming any time soon, they will have to think about it again, because again, their role is as peacekeepers, not peace enforcers. Nobody wants to come on the ground when there's fighting in the streets of this troubled nation -- Leon.

HARRIS: Certainly, we don't want to see anything bad happen to you or any of your colleagues who are there with you in the compound. Finally, Jeff, can you give us an idea of how long you folks think you may have to hold out there, and how long can you hold out there?

KOINANGE: Well, in this security building, they told us, stay in this place until we tell you. So right now, Leon, it looks pretty indefinite.

HARRIS: All right, it looks like you don't have a choice there, my friend. So please, be careful. Jeff Koinange, reporting live for us from Monrovia there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 21, 2003 - 10:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now, one other story we are following this morning is the intense fighting in the Liberian capital this morning of Monrovia. U.S. Marines have been called in there to protect the U.S. embassy and to ensure the safety of Americans on the ground. Rebel forces are trying to unseat Liberian President Charles Taylor, and the American embassy now is in the crossfire.
Our Jeff Koinange is in the capital city of Monrovia, and he joins us right now on the phone.

And, Jeff, as we've been hearing over the last few hours or so, it seems as though the fighting there will not die down at all.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at all. Leon, I can tell you, it's been raining mortar fire here outside the U.S. embassy compound. In fact, several of us did actually see the mortars landing in the Atlantic Ocean right beyond the embassy perimeter. We've been reporting from the fortified U.S. embassy.

For the last 24 hours, we heard at least about a dozen mortar shells exploding all around the compound. We also hear several other shells in downtown Monrovia. One hit a building in which an unconfirmed 18 people are dead, and another one, unconfirmed five people are dead. We also hear fighting has intensified in the streets, and yes, Leon, things are extremely fluid right now.

HARRIS: Well, With all of these mortars being lobbed over there near the embassy, are you assuming or believing at this particular point that the embassy itself is the target of these attacks?

KOINANGE: It appears so, Leon. Coming so close and at this time, it appears that way, although embassy officials aren't commenting right now. What they did is told all journalists, they've evacuated us into what they're calling a safe building, because they feel it's too dangerous out there in the street, so they feel if they are indeed a target, the best thing to do is get at least a few dozen journalists and aid workers out of harm's way and into a secure building -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, so we understand that some more Marines have been called in to protect those people that are there in that compound. Do you know whether or not the Marines are actually on the ground there yet or not, or when they will be there?

KOINANGE: We can't confirm that, Leon, but what we can confirm is that the U.S. ambassador to Liberia, John Blaney (ph), was in contact with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the call was made to deploy what they call the fast team, usually based in Rotar (ph), Spain (ph), but has been in nearby Spreetown (ph), Sierra Leone the last few weeks. That call has been made to deploy those special forces. So that's all we know right now, Leon.

HARRIS: What about Charles Taylor, the president, who is supposedly working out some sort of an amnesty deal, some sort of a deal where he will be going either to I believe Nigeria, or Ghana or whatever or some place else, and that is seen as being the move that will actually deflate tensions there in the country. What is the latest on that?

KOINANGE: The latest we heard from him was two days ago, Leon, where he did say in a report that he vows to fight to the last man. He ordered his soldiers to go street to street, house to house to make sure, in his own words, that the hooligans are chased out of town, and then the rebels came back saying, this is not a military coup this is pressure we're applying on embattled President Charles Taylor to leave. So it's basically a standoff, and with the mortar shells raining all over town, Leon, this looks like it's not going to end anytime soon.

At the same time, this doesn't bode well for any would-be peacekeepers. If they were planning on coming any time soon, they will have to think about it again, because again, their role is as peacekeepers, not peace enforcers. Nobody wants to come on the ground when there's fighting in the streets of this troubled nation -- Leon.

HARRIS: Certainly, we don't want to see anything bad happen to you or any of your colleagues who are there with you in the compound. Finally, Jeff, can you give us an idea of how long you folks think you may have to hold out there, and how long can you hold out there?

KOINANGE: Well, in this security building, they told us, stay in this place until we tell you. So right now, Leon, it looks pretty indefinite.

HARRIS: All right, it looks like you don't have a choice there, my friend. So please, be careful. Jeff Koinange, reporting live for us from Monrovia there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com