DATE=5/2/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / U-N TROOPS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261905
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABDIJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations peacekeeping mission in
Sierra Leone says 17 peacekeepers have been detained
by former rebels in the north and east of the country.
VOA's John Pitman reports from our West Africa bureau.
TEXT: According to Major General Vijay Kumar Jetley,
the commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force
in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), 10 Kenyan soldiers and
seven Indian soldiers were detained by members of the
former rebel group, the Revolutionary United front, or
R-U-F, on Monday.
A UNAMSIL spokesman later added that three unarmed U-N
military observers were also detained, but he did not
release their nationalities or say where they were
being held.
The peacekeepers were detained in two separate
incidents. The Kenyan soldiers were taken in the city
of Makeni, in north central Sierra Leone; the Indian
troops were taken in Kailahun, an R-U-F stronghold
near the Guinean and Liberian borders.
UNAMSIL spokesman Philip Winslow tells V-O-A the
United Nations does not consider the peacekeepers
"hostages" because no one has made any demands for
their release. Nonetheless, he said the U-N is
negotiating with Sierra Leone's government and with
the R-U-F's high command to win their release. He
said efforts were also underway to speak with the
leader of the R-U-F, Foday Sankoh, but that Mr. Sankoh
had, so far, not been much help.
/// WINSLOW ACT #1 ///
We are talking to the R-U-F high command. And
we have certainly tried to talk to Foday Sankoh.
But as of a couple of hours ago, chairman Sankoh
was not returning phone calls and was certainly
not cooperating with us in any way. However,
there are other members of the R-U-F high
command who might be a bit fed up with Mr.
Sankoh's behavior, who have been responding
favorably.
/// END ACT ///
At a news conference in Freetown on Tuesday, General
Jetley called the detention of the U-N peacekeepers a
provocation, and warned the former combatants not to,
in his words, "push (the U-N) into a corner."
UNAMSIL spokesman Philip Winslow says General Jetley's
remarks were not meant as a threat, but rather as a
reminder that UNAMSIL is authorized to use force if
necessary.
/// WINSLOW ACT #2 ///
These people, certainly the rebels, have been,
perhaps, trying to test us and see how far they
can push us - and it's just an explanation to
them that we have the right, the legal right, to
take the military option if that's what we
choose to do.
/// END ACT ///
Relations between the U-N and the former rebels in
Sierra Leone have been strained over the last week.
On Sunday, a Nigerian soldier serving with UNAMSIL was
shot and seriously wounded by rebels from the Armed
Forces Revolutionary Council.
Several news reports said the peacekeeper later died.
However, on Tuesday, UNAMSIL spokesman Philip Winslow
said the wounded man was in "serious but stable"
condition and had been flown to Nigeria for lung
surgery.
/// OPT /// The incident on Sunday involved six
Nigerian peacekeepers who were surrounded by more than
100 A-F-R-C rebels near the town of Port Loko.
According to the U-N, the peacekeeper who was shot
initially refused to surrender his weapon. After the
shooting, the rest of the unit was disarmed and the
wounded sergeant was evacuated. UNAMSIL says none of
the weapons have been recovered.
/// OPT /// Nigerian soldiers account for less than
half of the UNAMSIL peacekeeping force. But their
presence in Sierra Leone has been a bone of contention
with the former rebel groups, who fought a bloody
campaign against the Nigerian-led ECOMOG peacekeeping
force for more than two years.
/// OPT /// ECOMOG's mission formally ended on
Tuesday, with the last of the West African
peacekeepers pulling out. The troops that remain in
Sierra Leone, like the four battalions of Nigerians,
are serving under the U-N commander. /// END OPT ///
UNAMSIL currently has more than eight-thousand-five-
hundred peacekeepers in Sierra Leone, drawn from
nearly half a dozen countries. The U-N Security
Council has authorized a total of 11-thousand-one
hundred peacekeepers for Sierra Leone. UNAMSIL says
it expects to reach its full strength by July.
(SIGNED)
NEB/JP/GE/KBK
02-May-2000 14:25 PM EDT (02-May-2000 1825 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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