A UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone has begun hearing the first cases against members of the rebel Revolutionary United Front. The RUF is blamed for killings, rapes and abductions during a decade of civil war that ended in 2002. But the first three defendants - who include the RUF's final military leader Issa Sesay - are refusing to acknowledge the court's legitimacy.
About 50,000 people were killed, and many more maimed and raped in the war. The RUF's internal security chief, Augustine Gbao, and a key battlefield commander, Morris Kallon, are on trial alongside Issa Hassan Sesay. The RUF's campaign of violence included hacking off the limbs of civilians as a trademark act of terror. The BBC's Lansana Fofana in Freetown says that Mr Sesay occasionally lowered his head as the 18 war crimes charges, including sexual slavery, murder, looting and terrorising civilians, were read out.
Chief Prosecutor David Crane said that atrocities were committed in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone. "This is the day I have been waiting for," said one amputee. "I am now satisfied that someone is being held accountable for what the rebels did to me." But correspondents say the tribunal's importance has been diminished by the deaths of RUF leader Foday Sankoh his deputy Sam Bockarie - best known under his nom de guerre Mosquito.
The tribunal has not yet been able to arrest the man accused of being the RUF's paymaster, former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Despite being indicted on 17 charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity, Mr Taylor is living a life of luxury in exile in Nigeria. Unlike the war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, the court is based where the alleged crimes occurred and draws on both national and international law.
Source: BBC
Showing posts with label Foday Sankoh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foday Sankoh. Show all posts
Monday, July 5, 2004
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Sierra Leone War Crimes Court to Begin Deliberations in Fall
The United Nations is pressing ahead with arrangements for a special war crimes court in Sierra Leone that officials say will be leaner and less bureaucratic than the tribunals that were created to prosecute war criminals in the Balkans and Rwanda. The United Nations signed an agreement with Sierra Leone two months ago creating a legal framework for trying a score of defendants accused of atrocities in the West African country's civil war.
Ralph Zacklin, the assistant secretary general for legal affairs, visited Sierra Leone from Jan. 7 to 19 to lay the groundwork. He said today that the new court could start operating in Sierra Leone by this fall and return its first indictments before the end of the year. Mr. Zacklin briefed the Security Council on the proposed court on Tuesday. Today, he discussed some of the details.
The new court, he said, would enlist judges and lawyers in Sierra Leone as well as prominent jurists from outside the country. Secretary General Kofi Annan would appoint a majority of judges; the Sierra Leonean government would select the other judges and the chief prosecutor. The court in Sierra Leone would have a single trial chamber with three judges, two of them foreign. The appeals chamber would have five judges, three of them foreign. In a report last week to the Security Council, Mr. Annan said the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone, through its human rights section, was in a position to provide evidence of abuses to the prosecutor.
Three weeks ago, the Bush administration's war crimes ambassador, Pierre-Richard Prosper, criticized the tribunals for the Balkans and Rwanda, suggesting they were flawed by unprofessionalism and mismanagement. United Nations officials and other legal experts disputed Mr. Prosper's characterization. The tribunals for Rwanda and the Balkans have annual budgets of $100 million. The Sierra Leone special court, with a smaller staff, would get only $60 million over three years, financed by 15 to 20 countries, including the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. ''A lot of states are looking at the special court to see if this kind of court can work and if it can be leaner'' than the other tribunals, Mr. Zacklin said. He cited Cambodia, which has yet to bring to justice the Khmer Rouge officials who oversaw the killings of more than a million Cambodian civilians. ''I have no doubt whatsoever that the Cambodians are looking at what is happening in Sierra Leone,'' Mr. Zacklin said.
The defendants in Sierra Leone would include the likes of Foday Sankoh, a former army sergeant who headed the Revolutionary United Front. His insurgent group inspired terror by hacking off limbs of thousands of civilians, raping women and forcing children to fight. Some former rebels contend that government soldiers also committed atrocities and should be brought to account. The court is deemed essential for Sierra Leone's return to relative normality. With elections planned for May 14, the government has lifted the state of emergency to allow campaigning by political parties.
The United Nations had 17,400 troops deployed in Sierra Leone as of Jan. 31, making it the largest peacekeeping mission. Mr. Annan asked the Security Council to extend the mission's mandate, which expires at the end of this month, until Sept. 30. The secretary general said in his report that more than 47,000 combatants in Sierra Leone have put aside their weapons.
Source: New York Times
Ralph Zacklin, the assistant secretary general for legal affairs, visited Sierra Leone from Jan. 7 to 19 to lay the groundwork. He said today that the new court could start operating in Sierra Leone by this fall and return its first indictments before the end of the year. Mr. Zacklin briefed the Security Council on the proposed court on Tuesday. Today, he discussed some of the details.
The new court, he said, would enlist judges and lawyers in Sierra Leone as well as prominent jurists from outside the country. Secretary General Kofi Annan would appoint a majority of judges; the Sierra Leonean government would select the other judges and the chief prosecutor. The court in Sierra Leone would have a single trial chamber with three judges, two of them foreign. The appeals chamber would have five judges, three of them foreign. In a report last week to the Security Council, Mr. Annan said the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone, through its human rights section, was in a position to provide evidence of abuses to the prosecutor.
Three weeks ago, the Bush administration's war crimes ambassador, Pierre-Richard Prosper, criticized the tribunals for the Balkans and Rwanda, suggesting they were flawed by unprofessionalism and mismanagement. United Nations officials and other legal experts disputed Mr. Prosper's characterization. The tribunals for Rwanda and the Balkans have annual budgets of $100 million. The Sierra Leone special court, with a smaller staff, would get only $60 million over three years, financed by 15 to 20 countries, including the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. ''A lot of states are looking at the special court to see if this kind of court can work and if it can be leaner'' than the other tribunals, Mr. Zacklin said. He cited Cambodia, which has yet to bring to justice the Khmer Rouge officials who oversaw the killings of more than a million Cambodian civilians. ''I have no doubt whatsoever that the Cambodians are looking at what is happening in Sierra Leone,'' Mr. Zacklin said.
The defendants in Sierra Leone would include the likes of Foday Sankoh, a former army sergeant who headed the Revolutionary United Front. His insurgent group inspired terror by hacking off limbs of thousands of civilians, raping women and forcing children to fight. Some former rebels contend that government soldiers also committed atrocities and should be brought to account. The court is deemed essential for Sierra Leone's return to relative normality. With elections planned for May 14, the government has lifted the state of emergency to allow campaigning by political parties.
The United Nations had 17,400 troops deployed in Sierra Leone as of Jan. 31, making it the largest peacekeeping mission. Mr. Annan asked the Security Council to extend the mission's mandate, which expires at the end of this month, until Sept. 30. The secretary general said in his report that more than 47,000 combatants in Sierra Leone have put aside their weapons.
Source: New York Times
Tuesday, December 19, 2000
U.N. Confirms Liberia's Role In Smuggling Of Diamonds
A panel of international experts is expected to tell the Security Council in a report on Wednesday that Liberia and its president, Charles Taylor, have been playing the largest role in the smuggling of diamonds from Sierra Leone. The diamond sales have paid for a guerrilla war there.
The report, circulated today among diplomats, seems to confirm what other reports have said about Mr. Taylor's role. It recommends that the Council embargo all diamonds from Liberia until it can prove that it is not trafficking in gems from Sierra Leone or arming the insurgents there with the proceeds of illegal sales. The report further suggests that a travel ban similar to one imposed on senior Liberian officials by the United States should be applied by all nations. "President Charles Taylor is actively involved in fueling the violence in Sierra Leone, and many businessmen close to his inner circle operate on an international scale, sourcing their weaponry mainly in eastern Europe," the report said. Mr. Taylor has been the major supporter of the Revolutionary United Front, a rebel army in Sierra Leone that is known for amputating limbs to terrorize civilians.
The panel said there is "unequivocal and overwhelming evidence that Liberia has been actively supporting the R.U.F. at all levels, in providing training, weapons and related materiel, logistical support, a staging ground for attacks and a safe haven for retreat and recuperation, and for public relations activities."
In addition to Liberia, Burkino Faso was cited as being actively involved in the illegal diamonds-for-arms trade. Seven other countries were recommended for a watch list: Uganda, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Mali and Zambia. "Invoices from these countries need to be thoroughly checked," the report says.
Sierra Leone now has a diamond certification system approved by the United Nations, and the panel said it works for diamonds that "enter the formal system." But not all diamonds come from government-controlled areas and not all traders can be assumed to be dealing with legitimate stones, the panel found. The panel also found that several Liberian-registered planes that seemed to be outside the formal control of the Liberian government are being used by arms dealers. It recommended that planes bearing Liberian registration be grounded wherever they are found unless they can provide correct documentation and meet other requirements.
Arms dealers from Africa and the Middle East are using Liberian registration to ship illicit goods, the report says. Among dealers the panel cited are Sanjivan Ruprah of Kenya and Victor Bout, who is said to operate from Sharja in the United Arab Emirates. Another businessman described as close to Mr. Taylor is Talal el-Ndine, whom the panel describes as a wealthy Lebanese who acts as paymaster for the Revolutionary United Front.
The panel also looked at efforts by Foday Sankoh, the rebel group's leader, to get into the diamond business when he became part of the Sierra Leone government in 1999 after a peace agreement. Mr. Sankoh is now in jail after turning against the government and after his forces attacked United Nations peacekeepers last May. But he was chairman of the commission for the management of strategic mineral resources in a short-lived power-sharing agreement that was intended to rehabilitate the rebels.
In that capacity, he and Sierra Leone's president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, persuaded the United States to help pay for a conference in March of this year to which American diamond-mining investors were invited. Among those sending a representative was Lazare Kaplan International, whose chairman is Maurice Tempelsman, who had been involved in diamond mining in Sierra Leone decades ago but who had pulled out as the country sank into chaos. Officials at Lazare Kaplan International say they attended the meeting at the urging of the United States Agency for International Development, but came away seeing no future in returning to Sierra Leone. Shortly afterward, Mr. Sankoh was again in armed opposition and the plan to redevelop a legitimate diamond mining industry was scuttled.
The panel that wrote the study was led by Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon. The members were Atabou Bodian of Senegal, an expert from the International Civil Aviation Organization; Johan Peleman, a Belgian arms and transportation expert; Harjit S. Sandhu an Indian agent from Interpol, and Ian Smillie, a diamond expert from Canada.
Source: New York Times
The report, circulated today among diplomats, seems to confirm what other reports have said about Mr. Taylor's role. It recommends that the Council embargo all diamonds from Liberia until it can prove that it is not trafficking in gems from Sierra Leone or arming the insurgents there with the proceeds of illegal sales. The report further suggests that a travel ban similar to one imposed on senior Liberian officials by the United States should be applied by all nations. "President Charles Taylor is actively involved in fueling the violence in Sierra Leone, and many businessmen close to his inner circle operate on an international scale, sourcing their weaponry mainly in eastern Europe," the report said. Mr. Taylor has been the major supporter of the Revolutionary United Front, a rebel army in Sierra Leone that is known for amputating limbs to terrorize civilians.
The panel said there is "unequivocal and overwhelming evidence that Liberia has been actively supporting the R.U.F. at all levels, in providing training, weapons and related materiel, logistical support, a staging ground for attacks and a safe haven for retreat and recuperation, and for public relations activities."
In addition to Liberia, Burkino Faso was cited as being actively involved in the illegal diamonds-for-arms trade. Seven other countries were recommended for a watch list: Uganda, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Namibia, the Republic of Congo, Mali and Zambia. "Invoices from these countries need to be thoroughly checked," the report says.
Sierra Leone now has a diamond certification system approved by the United Nations, and the panel said it works for diamonds that "enter the formal system." But not all diamonds come from government-controlled areas and not all traders can be assumed to be dealing with legitimate stones, the panel found. The panel also found that several Liberian-registered planes that seemed to be outside the formal control of the Liberian government are being used by arms dealers. It recommended that planes bearing Liberian registration be grounded wherever they are found unless they can provide correct documentation and meet other requirements.
Arms dealers from Africa and the Middle East are using Liberian registration to ship illicit goods, the report says. Among dealers the panel cited are Sanjivan Ruprah of Kenya and Victor Bout, who is said to operate from Sharja in the United Arab Emirates. Another businessman described as close to Mr. Taylor is Talal el-Ndine, whom the panel describes as a wealthy Lebanese who acts as paymaster for the Revolutionary United Front.
The panel also looked at efforts by Foday Sankoh, the rebel group's leader, to get into the diamond business when he became part of the Sierra Leone government in 1999 after a peace agreement. Mr. Sankoh is now in jail after turning against the government and after his forces attacked United Nations peacekeepers last May. But he was chairman of the commission for the management of strategic mineral resources in a short-lived power-sharing agreement that was intended to rehabilitate the rebels.
In that capacity, he and Sierra Leone's president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, persuaded the United States to help pay for a conference in March of this year to which American diamond-mining investors were invited. Among those sending a representative was Lazare Kaplan International, whose chairman is Maurice Tempelsman, who had been involved in diamond mining in Sierra Leone decades ago but who had pulled out as the country sank into chaos. Officials at Lazare Kaplan International say they attended the meeting at the urging of the United States Agency for International Development, but came away seeing no future in returning to Sierra Leone. Shortly afterward, Mr. Sankoh was again in armed opposition and the plan to redevelop a legitimate diamond mining industry was scuttled.
The panel that wrote the study was led by Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon. The members were Atabou Bodian of Senegal, an expert from the International Civil Aviation Organization; Johan Peleman, a Belgian arms and transportation expert; Harjit S. Sandhu an Indian agent from Interpol, and Ian Smillie, a diamond expert from Canada.
Source: New York Times
Sunday, April 28, 1996
West African Surprise: Suddenly, Peace Takes Root in Sierra Leone
Six months ago, while neighboring Liberia seemed well on its way to ending its catastrophic civil war, Sierra Leone stood out in the minds of many in this region as the most hopeless case in West Africa. Army officers who had seized power ruled over the capital, Freetown, enriching themselves in the clandestine diamond trade.
South African mercenaries bloodily prosecuted a seemingly unwinnable bush war against one of the continent's most vicious guerrilla movements. With the rebels burning villages and hacking peasants to death without any apparent provocation or explanation, talk of holding democratic elections this year was greeted with deep skepticism by foreign donors and, for a time, indifference by the country's war-weary people. But in one of the most remarkable changes of fortune this continent has seen since the dawn of independence from European colonialism nearly 40 years ago, Sierra Leone carried out its most peaceful and democratic national elections ever in March, replacing its young military dictators with a civilian Government.
In recent weeks, the new Government has concluded a cease-fire with the rebels, and the country now seems well on its way to peace. The turnabout can be atributed to many factors, foremost among them war fatigue among the rebels and a growing sense of isolation as neighboring countries have declined to give them a sympathetic hearing. And when Sierra Leone's military leaders repeatedly sought to back out of the elections, Western donors sent sharp warnings of consequences ranging from a cutoff of badly needed aid to diplomatic isolation.
Now Freetown, a city with a dilapidated charm, is suddenly abuzz with development consultants, aid donor delegations and relief experts. No one predicts that the road ahead will be easy, or that a country that has been as unstable as this one is immune from setbacks. But where foreign diplomats and aid officials only recently saw hopelessness for what is by some measures the world's poorest country, many now see a tremendous opportunity for a mineral-rich and sparsely populated land to have another crack at building a modern state. "Africa never runs out of surprises," said Berhanu Dinka, the United Nations special representative to Sierra Leone, who played a key role in holding the military to its election schedule and helped draw the rebels into peace talks. "The lesson here is that things can always change for the better, and it is never too late to save a situation."
The story of how Sierra Leone was able to hold its improbably successful elections and advance toward peace is a story of personal and collective heroism. It is a striking example of what can happen when a devastated country's international partners pull determinedly, if only briefly, in the same direction.
At the center of this story stands the unshakable will of one man, James Jonah, 62, a former senior United Nations official from Sierra Leone. He returned home at the military's invitation to head an electoral commission, and surprised the army by taking its promises of holding honest elections seriously. By all accounts, Mr. Jonah then proceeded to deftly outmaneuver the military leadership each time it tried to slip out of its commitments. More than once, Mr. Jonah's determination nearly cost him his life. When he refused a request to lower the minimum age required for presidential candidates so that the 30-year-old military ruler, Capt. Valentine Strasser, could run, Mr. Jonah's home and office were bombed.
When Captain Strasser was overthrown in January by his deputy, Brig. Julius Maada Bio, Mr. Jonah pressed ahead with his election plans as if nothing had changed. The military responded by stepping up its peace feelers toward the rebels, and urged that with peace within reach it would be irresponsible to rush into elections. Unmoved by those arguments, and initially backed by few, Mr. Jonah pressed ahead. "Those of us who have had the privilege of living in open societies as I have for 40 years have a special obligation to promote the idea of democracy to our brothers and sisters," Mr. Jonah said. "A lot of people told me I was crazy, or that I was importing European ideas that didn't apply here. But I was convinced that if the people got a chance to have a say in how their country was being run for once, they would seize it." Seize it they did. Turnout in the first round of voting, on Feb. 26, was 65 percent. In the final round, which produced a new President, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, turnout rose to 75 percent despite threats by the rebels to disrupt the vote and maneuvers by the army to panic voters.
Mr. Jonah plays down suggestions of his own heroism, preferring to talk of that of the citizens, led in many instances by women's groups, who withstood weeks of intimidation. When Mr. Jonah told Brigadier Bio that he would hold the vote as scheduled, regardless of the results of the peace talks, the military leader challenged Mr. Jonah to prove that the people really wanted elections. So two weeks before the vote, Mr. Jonah convened a meeting of civic groups, from religious organizations to student and labor unions, in which each was invited to express its view on the subject.
To discourage turnout, the army lined the route to the meeting place with the most impressive display of weapons ever seen in the capital. Those taking part had to walk the final mile to the conclave under the hostile gaze of soldiers. Still, hundreds showed up, and their verdict -- elections now -- was so overwhelming that the military walked out of the conference center. Once-skeptical diplomats began to throw their full weight behind the elections, warning the army at every turn of the consequences -- from international isolation and arms embargoes to trade sanctions -- should the military interfere with the vote.
On the day of the second round of voting, March 15, with citizens waiting to vote in long lines, diplomats say the military engineered a series of loud explosions in the capital to create the impression of a rebel attack. But instead of fleeing for shelter, people defiantly held their ground, chanting: "We must vote! We must vote! Jonah, Jonah, we must vote!"
Rather than fight, the country's military leadership, including Brigadier Bio, finally took its cue and has begun taking up foreign offers of assistance in arranging scholarships abroad. "This was an extraordinary moment for the forces of democracy in Sierra Leone and an extraordinary moment for the forces of democracy in Africa," said John L. Hirsch, the United States Ambassador.
Responsibility for fulfilling this opportunity now rests largely on the shoulders of the new President, Mr. Kabbah, 64, a lawyer and former United Nations Development Program official, who took office last month. "We have decided to embark on fully open government," Mr. Kabbah said in an interview at his home in Juba Hills, a mountainside suburb overlooking a broad azure bay. "Everything that this Government does will be fully explained to the people, and public accountability will become the rule, not the exception."
Mr. Kabbah's first order of business was to consolidate a tentative peace agreement with the rebels. He traveled almost immediately to the neighboring Ivory Coast to meet with the rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, hitting it off well enough to get Mr. Sankoh to agree to an "indefinite" truce. Mr. Kabbah said that when Mr. Sankoh, an enigmatic former army photographer and corporal who has spent the last five years in the bush, expressed wonder over the gleaming high-rises and smoothly paved roads of the Ivory Coast, he told him, "Yes, there are many nice things here, and with peace there is no reason we shouldn't have all this and more."
Source: New York Times
South African mercenaries bloodily prosecuted a seemingly unwinnable bush war against one of the continent's most vicious guerrilla movements. With the rebels burning villages and hacking peasants to death without any apparent provocation or explanation, talk of holding democratic elections this year was greeted with deep skepticism by foreign donors and, for a time, indifference by the country's war-weary people. But in one of the most remarkable changes of fortune this continent has seen since the dawn of independence from European colonialism nearly 40 years ago, Sierra Leone carried out its most peaceful and democratic national elections ever in March, replacing its young military dictators with a civilian Government.
In recent weeks, the new Government has concluded a cease-fire with the rebels, and the country now seems well on its way to peace. The turnabout can be atributed to many factors, foremost among them war fatigue among the rebels and a growing sense of isolation as neighboring countries have declined to give them a sympathetic hearing. And when Sierra Leone's military leaders repeatedly sought to back out of the elections, Western donors sent sharp warnings of consequences ranging from a cutoff of badly needed aid to diplomatic isolation.
Now Freetown, a city with a dilapidated charm, is suddenly abuzz with development consultants, aid donor delegations and relief experts. No one predicts that the road ahead will be easy, or that a country that has been as unstable as this one is immune from setbacks. But where foreign diplomats and aid officials only recently saw hopelessness for what is by some measures the world's poorest country, many now see a tremendous opportunity for a mineral-rich and sparsely populated land to have another crack at building a modern state. "Africa never runs out of surprises," said Berhanu Dinka, the United Nations special representative to Sierra Leone, who played a key role in holding the military to its election schedule and helped draw the rebels into peace talks. "The lesson here is that things can always change for the better, and it is never too late to save a situation."
The story of how Sierra Leone was able to hold its improbably successful elections and advance toward peace is a story of personal and collective heroism. It is a striking example of what can happen when a devastated country's international partners pull determinedly, if only briefly, in the same direction.
At the center of this story stands the unshakable will of one man, James Jonah, 62, a former senior United Nations official from Sierra Leone. He returned home at the military's invitation to head an electoral commission, and surprised the army by taking its promises of holding honest elections seriously. By all accounts, Mr. Jonah then proceeded to deftly outmaneuver the military leadership each time it tried to slip out of its commitments. More than once, Mr. Jonah's determination nearly cost him his life. When he refused a request to lower the minimum age required for presidential candidates so that the 30-year-old military ruler, Capt. Valentine Strasser, could run, Mr. Jonah's home and office were bombed.
When Captain Strasser was overthrown in January by his deputy, Brig. Julius Maada Bio, Mr. Jonah pressed ahead with his election plans as if nothing had changed. The military responded by stepping up its peace feelers toward the rebels, and urged that with peace within reach it would be irresponsible to rush into elections. Unmoved by those arguments, and initially backed by few, Mr. Jonah pressed ahead. "Those of us who have had the privilege of living in open societies as I have for 40 years have a special obligation to promote the idea of democracy to our brothers and sisters," Mr. Jonah said. "A lot of people told me I was crazy, or that I was importing European ideas that didn't apply here. But I was convinced that if the people got a chance to have a say in how their country was being run for once, they would seize it." Seize it they did. Turnout in the first round of voting, on Feb. 26, was 65 percent. In the final round, which produced a new President, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, turnout rose to 75 percent despite threats by the rebels to disrupt the vote and maneuvers by the army to panic voters.
Mr. Jonah plays down suggestions of his own heroism, preferring to talk of that of the citizens, led in many instances by women's groups, who withstood weeks of intimidation. When Mr. Jonah told Brigadier Bio that he would hold the vote as scheduled, regardless of the results of the peace talks, the military leader challenged Mr. Jonah to prove that the people really wanted elections. So two weeks before the vote, Mr. Jonah convened a meeting of civic groups, from religious organizations to student and labor unions, in which each was invited to express its view on the subject.
To discourage turnout, the army lined the route to the meeting place with the most impressive display of weapons ever seen in the capital. Those taking part had to walk the final mile to the conclave under the hostile gaze of soldiers. Still, hundreds showed up, and their verdict -- elections now -- was so overwhelming that the military walked out of the conference center. Once-skeptical diplomats began to throw their full weight behind the elections, warning the army at every turn of the consequences -- from international isolation and arms embargoes to trade sanctions -- should the military interfere with the vote.
On the day of the second round of voting, March 15, with citizens waiting to vote in long lines, diplomats say the military engineered a series of loud explosions in the capital to create the impression of a rebel attack. But instead of fleeing for shelter, people defiantly held their ground, chanting: "We must vote! We must vote! Jonah, Jonah, we must vote!"
Rather than fight, the country's military leadership, including Brigadier Bio, finally took its cue and has begun taking up foreign offers of assistance in arranging scholarships abroad. "This was an extraordinary moment for the forces of democracy in Sierra Leone and an extraordinary moment for the forces of democracy in Africa," said John L. Hirsch, the United States Ambassador.
Responsibility for fulfilling this opportunity now rests largely on the shoulders of the new President, Mr. Kabbah, 64, a lawyer and former United Nations Development Program official, who took office last month. "We have decided to embark on fully open government," Mr. Kabbah said in an interview at his home in Juba Hills, a mountainside suburb overlooking a broad azure bay. "Everything that this Government does will be fully explained to the people, and public accountability will become the rule, not the exception."
Mr. Kabbah's first order of business was to consolidate a tentative peace agreement with the rebels. He traveled almost immediately to the neighboring Ivory Coast to meet with the rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, hitting it off well enough to get Mr. Sankoh to agree to an "indefinite" truce. Mr. Kabbah said that when Mr. Sankoh, an enigmatic former army photographer and corporal who has spent the last five years in the bush, expressed wonder over the gleaming high-rises and smoothly paved roads of the Ivory Coast, he told him, "Yes, there are many nice things here, and with peace there is no reason we shouldn't have all this and more."
Source: New York Times
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