DATE=5/29/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / U-N (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262929
BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Rebels in Sierra Leone appear to have released
the last group of U-N peacekeepers who had been held
hostage for nearly one month. From our West African
bureau V-O-A's Luis Ramirez reports West African
leaders have agreed to send additional peacekeepers to
Sierra Leone.
TEXT: Leaders of the 16-nation Economic Community of
West African States, ECOWAS, approved an additional
three-thousand peacekeepers. An ECOWAS spokesman says
the extra West African troops deployed to Sierra Leone
will serve under U-N command.
The ECOWAS leaders are meeting in the Nigerian
capital, Abuja. They also agreed to take rebel leader
Foday Sankoh out of Sierra Leone and keep him in a
safe location while officials continue efforts to put
the 1999 Lome' peace accord back on track. The rebel
leader was detained May 17th, nine-days after his
supporters fired into a crowd of demonstrators in
Freetown, killing at least 19 people.
/// OPT /// Mr. Sankoh has been held at an
undisclosed location in the Sierra Leonean capital,
amid growing calls for the government to put him on
trial. The government says Mr. Sankoh will be
punished for any crimes he has committed, but a trial
date has not been set. The United Nations also has
backed away from Mr. Sankoh, saying he is no longer a
credible representative of the rebel movement. ///
END OPT ///
Meanwhile, in Sierra Leone, U-N officials say the last
of the nearly 500-peacekeepers detained by rebels of
the Revolutionary United Front were released Sunday.
The group of at least 85-former hostages, most of them
Zambians, has arrived in Freetown after being held for
the past four-weeks.
/// OPT /// A group of Indian peacekeepers is still
surrounded by rebels in the town of Kuiva, but
officials say the soldiers were not abducted and are
not considered hostages. /// END OPT ///
More fighting has been reported in Sierra Leone
between rebels and pro-government forces. Clashes
have been reported near Rogberi Junction, northeast of
Freetown, as well as in the northern part of the
country, near the border with Guinea. (SIGNED)
NEB/LR/JWH/RAE
29-May-2000 09:53 AM EDT (29-May-2000 1353 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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