DATE=5/3/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N SIERRA LEONE REACT (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261951
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: United Nations officials are expressing outrage
at the killing of seven U-N peacekeepers in the west
African Nation of Sierra Leone. VOA Correspondent
Breck Ardery reports from the United Nations.
TEXT: For the second day in a row (Wednesday), the U-N
Security Council went into a closed session on Sierra
Leone. The Council received the news that seven
members of the peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone have
been killed and about 50 others captured by rebels of
the Revolutionary United Front - the R-U-F.
After the meeting, Council president Wang Yinfan of
China told reporters the Council holds R-U-F leader
Foday Sankoh responsible for the attacks.
///Wang act///
All members of the Council strongly condemn the
R-U-F's criminal actions, especially in its
attacks on the peacekeeping personnel in Sierra
Leone. The Council demands that R-U-F must stop
immediately such criminal actions. Sankoh, or
Mr. Sankoh, should strictly observe the Lome
agreements.
///end act///
The agreements, which Mr. Sankoh signed in Lome, Togo,
last July, pledge an end to fighting and call for
negotiations on a government of national unity.
Before Wednesday's Security Council meeting, U-N
Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement in
which he also held Mr. Sankoh responsible for the
killings of the peacekeepers.
Mr. Sankoh, at his home in Freetown, accused the
United Nations of interfering in the internal affairs
of Sierra Leone. He also said six rebels had been
killed in the fighting with U-N troops.
///Rest opt///
Sierra Leone's U-N ambassador Ibrahim Kamara told
reporters he is still optimistic about the peace
agreement.
///Kamara act///
Do you think one man like Sankoh can stand
against the rest of the world? I do not think
so. I think the peace process will go ahead with
or without Sankoh. The people of Sierra Leone
and the international community will see that
peace comes to the country. It is not only a
challenge to the people of Sierra Leone but to
this institution where we are standing now (U-N
headquarters).
///end act///
Mr. Kamara says if the United Nations can not uphold a
peace agreement in Sierra Leone, it would have little
chance in Congo-Kinshasa, a country that is much
bigger with a conflict that is more complex.
Currently, 85-hundred of the 11-thousand peacekeepers
authorized for Sierra Leone are on duty. The mission
is expected to reach full strength within two months.
(SIGNED).
NEB/UN/BA/LSF/ENE/KBK
03-May-2000 15:25 PM EDT (03-May-2000 1925 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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