Rebels free 139 U.N. personnel

FREETOWN, MAY 15. Sierra Leonean rebels holding 500 U.N. peacekeepers have released 139 of their captives into Liberian custody, a day after setting free 18 peacekeepers, including 11 Indian troops.

Fifteen of the freed captives were flown by a government- chartered helicopter to Liberia's capital, Monrovia, while the remaining 124 were waiting to be evacuated from the town of Foya on Liberia's border with Sierra Leone, said the U.N. spokesman, Mr. David Wimhurst.

The rebels yesterday freed 18 U.N. peacekeepers and military observers had been allowed to return to an Indian U.N. contingent in Kailahun town, the regional capital of the district with the same name.

The commander of the U.N. force, Mr. Vijay Jetley, said the captives - 11 Indian troops and seven unarmed military observers of various nationalities - were in good physical condition and had not been harmed by the rebels. However, their safety was far from assured as Kailahun remained surrounded by rebels.

In Monrovia, the Liberian President, Mr. Charles Taylor, said the 139-captives had been held in Sierra Leone's eastern Kailahun district. But did not specify exactly where.

Mr. Taylor, the Revolutionary United Front rebels' closest ally in the region, had been asked by West African leaders to mediate for the U.N. captives' release.

The freed peacekeepers were among an estimated 500-members of a U.N. force who were disarmed and taken into custody by the Revolutionary United Front rebels when they ended a 10- month peace and reignited Sierra Leone's civil war earlier this month.

- AP

Telegraph reports:

The Sierra Leone rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, who has been missing for a week, was plotting to overthrow the President, Mr. Ahmed Kabbah, and sell diamonds illegally, the Government has claimed.

It cited documents said to have been found at his abandoned home in Freetown.

The Justice Minister, Mr. Soloman Berewa, said the evidence was conclusive that last week Sankoh's Revolutionary United Front was on the verge of launching a bloody coup. ``By the grace of God it did not happen,'' he said. He declined to produce written evidence of the plot for ``national security reasons''.

Sankoh has not been seen since a mob of several thousand people looted and destroyed his home. He is believed to have returned to the bush, joining thousands of rebel soldiers still holding about 500 United Nations peacekeepers hostage.

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Section  : International
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