World Notes LIBERIA

Monrovia is fast becoming a lonely place. As the rebel National Patriotic Front advanced to within 20 miles of the capital last week, frightened residents fled to neighboring Sierra Leone. Many embassy staffers have departed, and high officials of President Samuel Doe's government have left town. Even Doe's wife and children have escaped to Britain.

The impetus is the wave of killings between the Gio and Mano tribes, who dominate the Front, and Doe's Krahn tribe supporters. Led by Charles Taylor, a Gio and former official in the Doe government, the Front's ranks have swelled to 5,000 insurgents since the rebellion began last Christmas Eve. They now seem poised to overthrow the former master sergeant, whose regime has been accused of corruption, economic mismanagement and human rights abuses.

The panic intensified last week when Liberian troops invaded a United Nations compound in Monrovia where hundreds of Gio and Mano refugees were seeking protection. One security guard was killed, and as many as 40 refugees were abducted. In response, the U.S. dispatched a six-ship Navy flotilla to stand off the coast to evacuate American citizens if necessary.