DATE=12/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE-BOCKARIE (L-O)
NUMBER=2-257265
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Sierra Leone, the West African peacekeeping
force says a top rebel military commander has
disappeared, possibly fleeing the country. VOA's John
Pitman reports from our West Africa bureau.
TEXT: In a statement released Friday afternoon, the
ECOMOG peacekeeping force said rebel commander Sam
Bockarie had executed several of his aides, and
disappeared from his stronghold in the Kailahun
district of eastern Sierra Leone.
The statement did not say where Mr. Bockarie went, but
journalists in the capital, Freetown, suggest he may
have left the country. ECOMOG says the rebel
commander fled with members of his family.
Mr. Bockarie's apparent disappearance comes just days
after he told V-O-A that he feared for his life. In
an interview with V-O-A's Africa Service, Mr. Bockarie
said he believed Foday Sankoh, the leader of the
Revolutionary United Front, the R-U-F, had planted
assassins among his staff.
Mr. Bockarie said he believed jealousy about his
popularity among the R-U-F's troops in the field had
prompted the effort to get rid of him.
Seeking to protect himself, the rebel commander
detained two foreign aid workers from the group
Doctors Without Borders for 10 days this month, but
released them without fanfare on Thursday.
A disagreement over the pace of the disarmament
process agreed to under the terms of the Lome peace
accord was also apparently at the root of Mr.
Bockarie's falling out with Mr. Sankoh. Mr. Bockarie
had wanted to take a harder line and resist disarming,
while Mr. Sankoh - who is now a member of the
government - urged his followers to implement the
deal.
Referring to Mr. Bockarie's reluctance to disarm, the
ECOMOG statement said his disappearance would remove a
major obstacle to peace. (SIGNED)
NEB/PT
17-Dec-1999 16:32 PM EDT (17-Dec-1999 2132 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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