DATE=5/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE (L)
NUMBER=2-262355
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=FREETOWN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Britain's top military commander has
reiterated London's policy on Sierra Leone, saying the
500 British troops in the West African country are not
there to fight. General Charles Guthrie is currently
in Sierra Leone, where British troops are involved in
a high-profile effort to assist the United Nations
peacekeeping mission there. V-O-A's John Pitman has
more from Freetown.
TEXT: /// OPT /// Heavily armed British soldiers man
checkpoints around the U-N headquarters in Freetown.
Foot patrols are also a common sight on the streets in
this part of the capital. Further afield, British
Army Land Rovers mounted with heavy machine guns
conduct reconnaissance patrols on the highways in
Freetown's suburbs.
/// OPT /// British officers are frequent visitors at
the Sierra Leone Army's headquarters, and have even
been seen at the home of former coup leader Johnny
Paul Koroma.
/// OPT /// In the skies, giant twin-rotored Chinook
transport helicopters clatter back and forth between
the capital and Lungi airport, across the Sierra Leone
River estuary. And finally, offshore, in the Atlantic
Ocean, a small armada of British warships has begun
assembling. /// END OPT ///
The British Army presence here in Freetown is massive,
yet Britain's top military commander insists the
mission remains focused on what he calls a "simple"
mandate: To facilitate the arrival of U-N
peacekeepers at Lungi Airport, and to give the United
Nations "advice" on logistics.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday after a meeting with
the U-N force commander, Britain's chief of defense
staff, General Charles Guthrie, brushed aside
allegations that the British Army is now controlling
the U-N peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone.
"We are perfectly content to be working alongside the
U-N," said General Guthrie, who pointed to Saturday's
rapid helicopter deployment of nearly 300 newly
arrived Jordanian peacekeepers as an example of the
kind of assistance the British Army is giving the
United Nations.
General Guthrie also denied reports that British
ground troops are gearing up for combat in Sierra
Leone. "We are not involved in combat," said the
general flatly. "And we have said we will not be."
The U-N force commander, Indian general Vijay Kumar
Jetley, also spoke to reporters on Sunday - making his
first public appearance in at least two weeks.
General Jetley has been widely criticized for the
performance of the U-N peacekeeping mission in Sierra
Leone, known as UNAMSIL, which has suffered a number
of strategic setbacks this month.
Most prominent among UNAMSIL's recent embarrassments
has been the seizure of nearly 500 peacekeepers by the
Revolutionary United Front, of R-U-F. In many cases,
the peacekeepers were also disarmed by the R-U-F,
which is now using U-N weapons in its war against pro-
government troops.
On Sunday, General Jetley conceded that UNAMSIL had
not been prepared for the kind of offensive action the
rebels have taken. But he rejected suggestions that
the peacekeepers have been humiliated by the rebels,
saying, "We let nobody down, including ourselves.
(This) is just one of those things that happens."
/// OPT /// Standing next to General Jetley, General
Guthrie added that although there have been "reverses"
for the United Nations in Sierra Leone, the situation
in the country is, in his words, "better than it was
yesterday , and better than it was last week." /// END
ACT ///
According to UNAMSIL, 486 peacekeepers are being
detained by the R-U-F in several locations around
Sierra Leone. That number has been creeping down of
late, as more than 20 detained peacekeepers and
military observers have either escaped captivity or
been released in the last week.
The latest releases came Saturday, when the R-U-F
freed 11 observers and seven peacekeepers in the town
of Geima, in the eastern part of the country.
/// OPT /// The United Nations says the observers hail
from nearly a dozen countries, including Bangladesh,
Guinea, India, Indonesia, Mali, Pakistan, Russia,
Britain and Zambia. The seven peacekeepers are
members of the Indian contingent.
/// OPT /// The 18 men are currently at the U-N
compound in Kailahun, which has been encircled by the
R-U-F. A UNAMSIL spokesman said negotiations were
underway with the R-U-F to send a helicopter to pick
the men up. /// END OPT ///
On Sunday, General Jetley said most of the remaining
hostages are in good condition and have not, to his
knowledge, been mistreated.
General Jetley said negotiations to secure the
hostages' release were continuing, but had been slowed
somewhat by the disappearance on Monday of R-U-F
leader Foday Sankoh, whom he called "the man who calls
all the shots."
With Mr. Sankoh out of the picture, it is highly
unclear who - if anyone - is in charge of the R-U-F,
and might be able to authorize the hostages' release.
/// REST OPT ///
Meanwhile, on the military front, the town of Masiaka,
east of Freetown, remained in government hands. But a
V-O-A reporter who visited the town said rebels had
counter-attacked the town Sunday morning, and briefly
retaken it, before being pushed out again by pro-
government troops.
UNAMSIL force commander general Jetley said Sunday
that the United Nations had sent reconnaissance
patrols to Masiaka, but had not yet re-deployed in the
town. (Signed)
NEB/jp/gm
14-May-2000 17:41 PM EDT (14-May-2000 2141 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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