Freetown, Monday

Fighting eased in Sierra Leone's capital at nightfall today after a day of shelling from Nigerian gunboats and fighting between Nigerian troops and rebels allied to leaders of an eight-day-old coup.

The International Committee of the Red Cross brokered a ceasefire to allow the evacuation of more than 600 civilians trapped by fighting around a Nigerian-protected hotel.

Nigerian ships in the bay west of Freetown began a bombardment at daybreak, after talks between Nigerian and British diplomats and the coup leaders collapsed last night.

Rebels massed around the Mammy Yoko hotel to attack the Nigerians, who were hopelessly outnumbered but managed to prevent them over- running the six-storey building, as the terrified civilians inside had feared.

A few hours into the battles, the Nigerians began running out of ammunition, and communications with commanders based at Hastings airport failed. They said they expected more air cover from Guinean forces.

Staff at Freetown's Conn-naught Hospital said the shelling had killed 20 people in the beachside Aberdeen district. One Nigerian at the hotel died of his wounds and 11 people were injured, mostly by shrapnel, including British defence attache Captain Lincoln Jopp.

A first ceasefire agreed after lengthy negotiations between the Red Cross and the rebels collapsed just as an evacuation was being put together, and the second deal took another three hours of intermittent gunfire.

The hotel was hit by rocket-propelled grenades and fire broke out on the top two floors. Witnesses said about 50 Nigerian soldiers were defending it against about 150 rebels. It had been previously thought to be the most secure place in town.

The rebels apparently be-lieved a Nigerian attack on the city would start from the hotel, which has a heliport in the grounds.

The rest of the dilapidated capital was calm, though people demonstrated against the Nigerian intervention and Sierra Leonean troops, and rebels secured strategic sites.

An apparently conciliatory statement from the new military leadership this afternoon urged Sierra Leoneans not to take revenge for the bombardment by attacking Nigerian civilians.

It said the new military council had been unable to contact Nigerian authorities in Freetown to discuss the intervention.

Terrified residents fled the seafront Aberdeen district carrying bundles of possessions on their heads. They said several more civilians had been killed in the crossfire.

Ousted president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah said from Guinea that he had asked the Nigerians to intervene, and was in regular touch with their commanders.

''As far as they are concerned they are doing a tactical job trying to make sure that civilian areas are not targeted,'' Kabbah said, adding that he hoped to return to Freetown shortly.

''It will be over very soon, and law and order will be restored and everybody will be happy.''

The coup leaders had accused Kabbah of failing to consolidate the peace accord signed last November. He has also been accused of encouraging ethnic conflict.

Rebel leader Foday Sankoh, named as vice-chairman in Major Johnny Paul Koromah's ruling Armed Forces Revolutionary Council yesterday, called on his men to back the coup leaders last week from his detention in Nigeria.

Nigeria and Guinea sent troops to Sierra Leone after the coup, ready for a strike if talks with Koromah failed.

They are thought to have about 3000 men in Freetown. Ghana said it was sending troops, but only to evacuate its nationals.

At an Organisation of African Unity summit in Harare, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was revolted by the coup.

''Africa can no longer tolerate and accept as faits accomplis coups against elected governments, and the illegal seizure of power by military cliques,'' he said. ''Armies exist to protect national sovereignty, and not to train their guns on their own people.'' - Reuter