Military

DATE=8/26/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SIERRA LEONE / SANKOH CORPSE (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-306865

BYLINE=SARAH SIMPSON

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The body of Foday Sankoh, the once-feared Sierra Leonean rebel group leader and indicted war criminal who died last month, has disappeared. Sarah Simpson reports from V-O-A's west Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: Mr. Sankoh's corpse had been transported to his village where he was buried. But police now say the grave has been checked and his body is nowhere to be found.

Village elders insist they do not know who is responsible. One police official indicated he thought the corpse had been taken to be burned.

Crowds of angry Sierra Leoneans lined the streets to see the transportation of Foday Sankoh's body to his hometown of Magburaka, about 210 kilometers from the capital, Freetown.

Foday Sankoh was the founding father of the rebel Revolutionary United Front. His ragtag troops were notorious for atrocities that included hacking off the hands, feet, lips and noses of men, women and children. Some of the R-U-F's soldiers were themselves children - smaller than the weapons they carried.

Foday Sankoh was arrested in 2000 and at the time of his death was in United Nations custody awaiting trial for war crimes. But his deteriorating health and mental state prevented prosecution from taking place.

Over the last year, there were repeated calls for charges against Mr. Sankoh to be dropped on health grounds. The last time Mr. Sankoh was seen in public he was crumpled in a wheelchair - unable to walk, talk or even feed himself.

After a stroke an appeal was made for Mr. Sankoh to receive medical treatment. But no country would accept the former rebel leader, even for short-term treatment. (Signed)

NEB/SS/ALW/RH/fc