18 May 2000
Special Envoy Jackson Begins Mission of Hope to West Africa
(Makes Andrews Air Force Base departure remarks) (890) By Jim Fisher-Thompson Washington File Staff Correspondent Washington -- The special envoy for the president and the secretary of state for the promotion of democracy in Africa, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, began a six-day mission to West Africa May 17, saying he looked forward to discussing with regional leaders ways of bringing peace to war-torn Sierra Leone. Jackson told journalists and reporters just before departing from Andrews Air Force Base that "as we embark on this serious diplomatic mission to West Africa, there is an enormous crisis, but there is also opportunity and hope." Jackson was accompanied at the press conference by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Howard Jeter, former special U.S. envoy for Liberia. From May 17 to 22 the two diplomats and other officials will travel to Nigeria, Liberia, Mali, and Guinea for talks with regional officials. The focus of their mission will be to resolve the crisis in Sierra Leone, to try somehow to stop the fighting and help reconstitute the Lome Peace Accord, which Jackson helped broker, and to bolster international support for the government of Sierra Leone, which is led by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. "The integrity of that government, its sovereignty, and its leadership must be enforced," Jackson said. But the overriding focus of the mission, he said, will be to gain the release of some 350 hostages still held by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh -- who was arrested by Sierra Leonean police shortly before Jackson's departure. Sankoh, whose troops are in violation of the Lome Accord, had disappeared a week ago after RUF troops fired on a crowd protesting their (RUF's) seizure of the U.N. peacekeepers. Sankoh's arrest followed the release of about 237 peacekeepers secured by Liberia's President Charles Taylor, whom Jackson will meet in Monrovia. Jackson, who will work with regional leaders on the problem, said the remaining hostages must be freed. "They must not be bargaining chips," he said. The hope is that the RUF will free them "and reengage in the society of Sierra Leone." As it stands now, RUF is not a political movement, he explained, but rather a criminal enterprise. Jackson said United Nations peacekeepers have played "a great role [in Sierra Leone], but they can't just be target practice for RUF." He stressed that "Sierra Leone's democracy should no longer be held captive to a military force led by the RUF. There is an awesome threat of diamond smuggling, gun running, and terror and the people of Sierra Leone deserve better. They must be able to build their democracy. They deserve stability, security, and opportunity and we want to be a part of making that happen as we go to Nigeria, Liberia, Mali, and Guinea talking to regional heads of state about what they can do." Jackson stressed that Nigeria is a critical player in the peace process in the region. His first stop will be in Abuja, where President Clinton has sent military logistics planners to discuss ways of supporting peace-building efforts in Sierra Leone. Nigeria provided most of the troops and resources for a two-year peacekeeping effort in Sierra Leone following the outbreak of what Jackson termed "warlordism" in 1997. Following a peace accord signed in Lome in July 1999, Nigeria withdrew most of its forces in advance of the U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone -- the UNAMSIL peacekeepers seized and disarmed by RUF forces. ECOMOG (the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group), with Nigerian support, brought peace "to Liberia after long and bitter war," Jackson said. "Likewise, they committed to doing it in Sierra Leone as well. We are going to Nigeria, which was a huge factor under the ECOWAS banner as a peacemaking, peace-enforcement element in Sierra Leone, to restore that country's democracy." Jackson said, "They [ECOWAS/Nigeria] are willing to do it again, but they need and deserve the support to be able to do it and do it effectively." The next stop will be Liberia, the Jackson said, "where the ECOWAS states have given Mr. Taylor the appointment to seek to get RUF to stop their military activity and to disarm, disengage, and release the [remaining] U.N. hostages." Before RUF disrupted the process, the peace accord was working, Jackson said. Some 2,300 combatants "had laid down their arms ... [and] an election was scheduled for next year; there were some signs of hope." However, "when the [ECOMOG] peace enforcement agencies pulled out, perhaps too soon, RUF took advantage of that and as they moved toward securing the area of the diamond mines -- an area which in fact comes under the U.N. mandate -- they then took U.N. troops and held them hostage." The U.S. official emphasized that "there must be justice, peace, and a commitment to that process that will allow all West Africans to rejoice." Western democracies cannot rest until Sierra Leone is free, Jackson concluded, adding that "we should have a clear reading in the next four or five days of what the next steps ought to be" to bring that about. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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