DATE=5/8/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE (L UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-262109
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=FREETOWN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, at least
four civilians have been killed and 40 wounded by
rebel fighters who opened fire on a crowd of
protesters outside the home of rebel leader Foday
Sankoh's. V-O-A's John Pitman in Freetown reports the
shootings come amid disturbing signs that the
government and Mr. Sankoh's group are preparing for
war.
TEXT: The victims from Monday's shooting were taken
to a blood-stained courtyard at Freetown's main
hospital, where morgue workers displayed the bodies
until someone identified them.
In the emergency room, a handful of doctors worked to
save dozens of gunshot wound victims, most of whom lay
on the floor in their own sweat and blood.
Most of the dead and wounded were shot in the chest,
grisly testimony of the day's violence, in which
gunmen loyal to former rebel leader Foday Sankoh,
fired directly into a crowd of protesters gathered
outside Sankoh's house.
A carpentry teacher who witnessed the shootings,
Bakari Lahai, says the gunmen drew their fingers
across their throats in a menacing gesture before
opening fire at the crowd.
/// LAHAI ACT ///
There were shots! Gun shots! Ba-Boom! Just like
that!
/// END ACT ///
The demonstration was organized by members of Sierra
Leone's parliament to protest the former rebel
leader's failure to implement several key elements of
last year's Lome peace accord.
/// PROTEST SOUNDS - FADE UNDER ///
Several thousand protesters began the march Monday
morning, singing and chanting slogans calling on Mr.
Sankoh to respect the Lome accord or leave the
country.
March organizers say they hoped to talk to the former
rebel leader at his home, but when he did not
appear, the crowd grew restless and began showering
his house with stones.
A small group of United Nations peacekeepers assigned
to guard the former rebel leader tried to keep the
marchers away from the house, but appeared unable to
stop the crowd surging forward.
A member of parliament and one of the march
organizers, Mohammed Kaolin, said one of the
peacekeepers tried to disperse the crowd with a
warning shot fired into the air.
Witnesses say the gunmen opened fire almost
immediately afterwards, sending marchers, bystanders,
and journalists scrambling for cover.
A number of the victims were killed instantly. Others
were pulled out of the crowd by the gunmen and
executed at close range.
/// OPT /// One local journalist was hospitalized
after the march, apparently suffering from heat
exhaustion. The gunmen also threatened to execute a
Canadian journalist, but the reporter escaped injury
when peacekeepers intervened. /// END OPT ///
A journalist and camera crew from the Associated Press
were able to enter Mr. Sankoh's residence briefly
during the confrontation. In an interview, the former
rebel leader told A-P the crowd was provoking him by
throwing stones. He is quoted as saying -- "Democracy
is not about assaulting people's houses."
There was no immediate reaction to the shootings
from the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone,
UNAMSIL, which was analyzing reports from its
peacekeepers on the scene.
/// REST OPT ///
But on the streets of Freetown, public anger towards
Mr. Sankoh and his political party, the Revolutionary
United Front, or R-U-F, had many civilians calling on
the government to launch a military offensive against
the former rebels.
Trevor Murray is a 32-year-old teacher.
/// MURRAY ACT ///
I think that the government, if they want actual
peace, let them try to encourage the soldiers,
the Sierra Leone army -- encourage them, give
them their logistics and then help people, that
have love for this country. And then they (can)
come together and fight these rebels.
/// END ACT ///
There were ominous signs on Monday that the government
may be listening to this public outcry, and may be
encouraging the army and other pro-government groups
to take a harder line against the rebels -- even if it
means violating the Lome cease-fire.
A western diplomat in Freetown indicated on Monday
that the U-N may not be discouraging the government's
newly aggressive posture.
Car loads of soldiers and armed men in civilian
clothes could be seen racing through the streets of
Freetown on Monday. Some of the men were former
soldiers who supported coup leader Johnny Paul Koroma
in 1997. On Sunday, Mr. Koroma called on his
followers to, in his words, "redeem" themselves by
joining up with government troops to fight the R-U-F.
Mr. Koroma has asked the government to arm his men,
but has also said his followers will arm themselves if
they do not receive official help. On Monday,
tension was running high at Freetown's two armories,
which observers predicted could be raided in the
coming days by Mr. Koroma's men.
With the government and its allies apparently gearing
up for war, the U-N's role is being questioned more
critically by many civilians in Freetown. Cries of
"U-N Go Home!" are not uncommon in the city, where a
growing number of people believe the U-N mission lacks
resolve.
As he helped wounded marchers in the emergency room
after the shooting, parliamentarian Mohammed Kallon
said he thought it was ironic to see U-N peacekeepers
guarding Sankoh but not doing anything to stop the
gunmen when they attacked the marchers.
In addition to threatening the Lome cease-fire, the
escalating violence has also cast doubt on the
agreement's centerpiece -- the disarmament and
demobilization program for about 45-thousand former
combatants. Up to one-third of the fighters had been
disarmed, but a western diplomat who visited a
disarmament camp in Port Loko recently said the place
was deserted. The diplomat said it appeared the R-U-F
had used the program to rest its fighters, and had
given resettlement money to each ex-combatant to buy
new weapons.
Meanwhile, fighting continued outside of Freetown on
Monday. A U-N military spokesman said peacekeepers
fought sporadic clashes with the R-U-F early Monday in
the town of Masiaka. The spokesman said there were
no casualties, but he added a U-N helicopter was
forced to make an emergency landing near Makeni on
Sunday, after it was hit in the rotors and fuel tank
by hostile fire.
The helicopter had gone to Makeni with Sankoh's
approval to resupply the Kenyan peacekeepers who have
been surrounded by the R-U-F, and to evacuate two
peacekeepers who were wounded last week. Another
flight was approved to resupply and evacuate wounded
peacekeepers in Magburaka, where Kenyan blue helmets
are also surrounded and running low on supplies.
No one was hurt in the incident, but the crippled
helicopter was abandoned.
The U-N mission is coming under increasing pressure in
Sierra Leone, not only to maintain order, but also
to recover up to 500 of its own peacekeepers believed
held by the R-U-F.
A joint-trip to inspect the locations where the
peacekeepers are supposedly being held was negotiated
Sunday night by a Libyan diplomat. But after Monday's
shooting, it did not seem likely Sankoh would be
able to leave his residence. (SIGNED)
NEB/JP/JWH/KBK
08-May-2000 14:50 PM EDT (08-May-2000 1850 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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