A civilian mob arrested the leader of a failed coup Friday, recognizing the ruthless former army commander as he tried to slip out of the capital.
Gen. Charles Julue seized the presidential mansion in Monrovia Thursday, but his forces abandoned the oceanside building after a nearly two-hour assault by an African intervention force in gunboats and tanks.Julue was nabbed early Friday as he walked alone past an African army roadblock down the road from the U.S. Embassy.
Civilians recognized the man blamed for atrocities against civilians in 1985 and 1990.
Julue protested, claiming his name was Harrison Saydee. A reporter watched as the crowd tore off most of his clothing to produce an identity card showing he was the feared general.
Officers said they still were hunting for dissident soldiers who helped stage the coup attempt.
Thursday's bold attack came just three days after the West African nation's three main warring factions signed a U.N.-approved agreement.
The United Nations and Nigeria, which provides two-thirds of the African peacekeepers, have warned it is the final chance for Liberians to make peace, or they will withdraw.
The accord caused an uproar in Monrovia because it would replace a civilian-dominated interim government with a council of war-lords.
The rebels infiltrated the mansion, the national radio station and the telecommunications center early Thursday, but only managed to hold onto the mansion, a four-story fortress.
A woman who lives three blocks from the mansion said the attack was terrifying. "The telephone's here with me under my bed - listen to those booms! - and the windows are shaking fit to break," she said.
Gen. A. S. Mukhtar, chief of staff of the eight-nation African army, said they had no choice but to attack: "We tried to negotiate for hours. He would not budge."
He said three soldiers in the multinational force were wounded. He said he did not yet know the toll on the rebels or how many had been captured. On Thursday, he said between 50 and 60 had surrendered and as many as 150 were holed up in the mansion when the force attacked.