DATE=5/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE - U-N (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261997
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Sierra Leone, the United Nations says only
four of its peacekeepers were killed on Tuesday, not
seven as was initially reported. The United Nations
also says it is continuing negotiations with rebel
leader Foday Sankoh to win the release of about 50 U-N
personnel who are being held captive by the rebels.
V-O-A Correspondent John Pitman reports from our West
Africa bureau.
TEXT: On Thursday, a U-N spokesman in Sierra Leone
confirmed the revised death toll from Tuesday's gun-
battle between peacekeepers and rebels, saying the
early figure of seven dead was not accurate.
Spokesman Osman Lahai says the bodies of the four
Kenyan peacekeepers have been recovered and are being
sent home.
Three other peacekeepers from the Kenyan battalion
were wounded in the battle with rebels from the
Revolutionary United Front, the R-U-F. According to
Mr. Lahai, they remain in the U-N's hospital in
Freetown.
The U-N mission in Sierra Leone, known as UNAMSIL,
also continued negotiating Thursday with the R-U-F, in
an effort to win the release of 49 U-N personnel
believed to be held by the rebels.
UNAMSIL spokesman Osman Lahai said the negotiations
are continuing at "every" level, but much of the
pressure appears focused on Foday Sankoh, the leader
of the R-U-F.
On Wednesday, U-N Secretary General Koffi Annan said
Mr. Sankoh should be held personally responsible for
the deaths of the peacekeepers, and for other assaults
on UNAMSIL.
/// OPT /// Speaking to the Associated Press on
Thursday in Congo-Kinshasa, the U-S ambassador to the
United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, said the
international community would prepare, in his words,
"a strong and swift response" against those
responsible for the attacks in Sierra Leone. ///
END OPT ///
Mr. Sankoh has alternated between outright defiance
toward the United Nations and attempts to be helpful.
On Wednesday, for instance, he said he would take "all
the necessary steps" to release the detained U-N
workers, who include peacekeepers and civilians.
But on Thursday, Mr. Sankoh told V-O-A's Africa
Service that he was being victimized by the United
Nations -- which he accused of provoking Tuesday's
gun-battle. He said the U-N claim that his men were
holding hostages was, in his words, "a fabrication."
/// SANKOH ACT ///
I have no knowledge whether United Nations
peacekeeping force are being held by (my) men.
I have no knowledge. I am trying to make
contact (but) I have not received any reports
that we held any U-N troops.
/// END ACT ///
/// OPT /// Mr. Sankoh said the only information
he had received from his commanders in the field was
that seven of his soldiers were killed in the clash
with the United Nations. /// END OPT ///
In his interview with V-O-A, UNAMSIL spokesman Osman
Lahai countered Mr. Sankoh's denial, saying, in his
words, "as far as the U-N is concerned, the R-U-F is
holding 49 U-N personnel."
Mr. Lahai said a high level negotiating team,
including Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's
national security adviser, was continuing to press Mr.
Sankoh for the captives' release.
/// REST OPT ///
Meanwhile, U-N peacekeepers remained stationed around
Mr. Sankoh's house on Thursday. However, UNAMSIL says
this is a standard practice since the United Nations
has been charged with guaranteeing Mr. Sankoh's
personal security. (Signed)
NEB/JP/JWH/gm
04-May-2000 13:34 PM EDT (04-May-2000 1734 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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