DATE=5/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / JACKSON (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262432
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=FREETOWN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Sierra Leone, there is mounting public
opposition to a planned visit by the Reverend Jesse
Jackson. Mr. Jackson is president Clinton's special
envoy for Africa, but on Friday he angered many in
Sierra Leone when he reportedly compared the
Revolutionary United Front rebel group to Nelson
Mandela's African National Congress. As V-O-A's John
Pitman reports from Freetown, Mr. Jackson says his
remarks were taken out of context, but the firestorm
they caused may force him to postpone or cancel his
trip.
TEXT: Jesse Jackson says he was misquoted Friday by
the Reuters news agency, which carried a story in
which he was quoted as saying Sierra Leone's main
rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front, the R-U-
F, could be compared to Nelson Mandela's African
National Congress.
That statement sparked an angry public backlash
against the American special envoy, who has been
accused in local newspapers of supporting a rebel
group that is widely reviled for its human rights
abuses and corruption.
On Monday, Mr. Jackson released a statement to clarify
his position, saying he did not mean to compare the R-
U-F to the A-N-C. "My intention," he wrote, "was
merely to note that the A-N-C became a part of the
political process."
The statement said after the signing of the Lome peace
agreement last year, the R-U-F had been given a
similar "window of opportunity" to join Sierra Leone's
political process. However, Mr. Jackson wrote: "The
R-U-F has wasted that opportunity."
/// OPT /// Responding to criticism that he had also
made a favorable comparison between the R-U-F's
leader, Foday Sankoh, and Mr. Mandela, Reverend
Jackson wrote there can be "no comparison" between the
two men. While Mr. Mandela "led his people to
national reconciliation . and a future of hope," he
wrote, Mr. Sankoh has, in his words, "led Sierra Leone
to the crisis it is in now." /// END OPT ///
Monday afternoon, Mr. Jackson participated in a
conference call with local journalists and politicians
in which he repeated his interest in seeing Mr. Sankoh
and the R-U-F disarm, return to the negotiating table
and release the U-N peacekeepers they still hold.
On the line from the United States, where he is still
finalizing his plans for tour of West Africa, Mr.
Jackson said he remained committed to helping bring
peace to Sierra Leone, and appealed to the audience to
support him.
/// JACKSON ACT ///
We ought to turn to each other and not on each
other. Because we really are on the same side
of history, fighting for peace and justice.
/// END ACT ///
Still, for many in the audience, Mr. Jackson's remarks
rang hollow. Abu Mbawa Kongonba, a member of
parliament from the Kono district, said he wasn't
convinced by Mr. Jackson's efforts to clarify his
remarks about the R-U-F. In Mr. Kongonba's view, Mr.
Jackson would be, in his words, "embarrassed" if he
came to Sierra Leone.
/// KONGONBA ACT ///
I see Foday Sankoh as a blasphemer, and anybody
who supports him, you are also a blasphemer.
And the Sierra Leonean people have known this
and I believe that if the reverend gentleman
(Mr. Jackson) comes here, he will be
disappointed. Everybody will be against him and
we don't want a strained relationship between us
and the United States of America.
/// END ACT ///
Elizabeth Alpha-Lavalie, another member of parliament
who was one of Mr. Sankoh's sharpest critics before he
disappeared last week, said she, too, was disappointed
by Mr. Jackson's remarks, which she considered
"evasive" and "ignorant." Mrs. Alpha-Lavalie says she
believes Mr. Jackson continues to give too much credit
to men like Mr. Sankoh and Liberian president Charles
Taylor.
/// LAVALIE ACT ///
The people believe that his association with
Charles Taylor and Foday Sankoh would not make
him have a fair judgement of the Sierra
Leoneans. We Sierra Leoneans are peace-loving
people. We put down everything to accept the
peace. We swallowed the bitter pill, as we used
to say. We gave up everything. But then, like
I said, Reverend Jesse Jackson refuses to see
our point of view. Now he wants to paint us as
the recalcitrant party. He's refusing to see
Foday Sankoh has hurt the people of Sierra
Leone. And that Charles Taylor is backing
Sankoh.
/// END ACT ///
Mrs. Alpha-Lavalie and Mr. Kongonba both said Mr.
Jackson should have simply apologized for misspeaking,
rather than offering explanations they found
unconvincing. (SIGNED)
NEB/JP/JP
16-May-2000 15:58 PM EDT (16-May-2000 1958 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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