DATE=5/19/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / U-N (L)
NUMBER=2-262582
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=FREETOWN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Sierra Leone, the United Nations says 150
peacekeepers have been released from rebel captivity
since Liberian President Charles Taylor began
negotiating with the rebels last week. Still, 334
peacekeepers are still being held by the rebels, and
as V-O-A's John Pitman reports from Freetown, the
United Nations says as many as 40 of them may be
seriously injured.
TEXT: Peacekeepers continue to trickle out of Sierra
Leone, as Liberian president Charles Taylor presses
his negotiations with the rebel Revolutionary United
Front, the R-U-F.
The United Nations mission in Sierra Leone, UNAMSIL,
says 13 peacekeepers from Zambia and Kenya were the
latest batch to return to Freetown after being
released into Mr. Taylor's custody in Liberia.
The Liberian president fell into the role of
negotiator at the request of the Economic Community of
West African States, ECOWAS, which turned to Mr.
Taylor because of his long-time relationship with the
R-U-F, and its leader, Foday Sankoh.
According to UNAMSIL, 334 peacekeepers remain in rebel
custody, including up to 40 who Mr. Taylor has said
may be seriously wounded or sick.
On Friday, U-N spokesman David Wimhurst issued an
urgent appeal to the rebels to release the captives
who are injured or sick.
/// WIMHURST ACT ///
I appeal again, on humanitarian grounds, for the
urgent release of all of those personnel still
held by the R-U-F who are wounded, who are sick
in any way. They need urgent medical treatment.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Wimhurst says the wounded peacekeepers are
suffering from a range of injuries, including broken
legs and, possibly, gunshot wounds.
The U-N spokesman said a total of 150 peacekeepers had
been released in recent days -- most of them due to
President Taylor's intervention. Mr. Wimhurst added,
however, that two Zambian peacekeepers had escaped
their captors and walked to a U-N base in the town of
Port Loko. He did not give any details of the escape,
but confirmed the men had been among those considered
held captive.
/// OPT /// For their part, the rebels continue to
deny they are holding any U-N troops. In a recent
broadcast interview, a rebel spokesman maintained the
peacekeepers were simply lost, and the R-U-F was
helping to search for them. /// END OPT ///
Several hundred other UNAMSIL personnel have been
surrounded by the R-U-F and forced to stay inside
their compounds. However, the United Nations does not
consider these troops to be detained by the rebels,
despite the fact they cannot move around freely.
/// OPT /// Among the peacekeepers in this vaguely
defined position are 18 former captives who were
released by the rebels last week and allowed to go to
the UNAMSIL base in the eastern town of Kailahun. The
11 military observers and seven members of the Indian
contingent have not been able to leave the base
because of the rebel siege. UNAMSIL says it is
currently negotiating with the R-U-F to send a
helicopter to Kailahun to retrieve the men, but has
not yet received permission to land in Kailahun. ///
END OPT ///
As President Taylor continues his negotiations with
the rebels, it remains unclear what role, if any, R-U-
F leader Foday Sankoh may be playing. Mr. Sankoh was
apprehended on Wednesday, but remains in government
custody in a secret location.
/// REST OPT ///
Meanwhile, in New York on Friday, the United Nations
Security Council began debating an interim resolution
to increase the size of the UNAMSIL force from the 11-
thousand-100 troops currently authorized, to 13-
thousand troops.
On Monday, U-N Secretary General Koffi Annan is
expected to submit a report to the Security Council
asking to raise the total deployment further, to 17-
thousand troops. The secretary general's request is
also expected to address possible changes in the
UNAMSIL mandate.
Following the rebels' seizure of the peacekeepers
earlier this month -- as well as an increasing number
of armed attacks on UNAMSIL positions -- Mr. Annan has
come under pressure to give the peacekeepers greater
latitude to defend themselves and enforce last year's
Lome peace accord. (SIGNED)
NEB/JP/JP
19-May-2000 14:25 PM EDT (19-May-2000 1825 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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