| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
(The following is a special IRIN-West Africa Update on the situation in Sierra Leone. A full Update of Events in West Africa will be issued later today)
ABIDJAN, 7 December (IRIN) - Sporadic shooting was heard in Freetown overnight as rebel and ECOMOG forces jockeyed for control of the capital, news reports said today (Thursday). Both the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), backed by their allies of the ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and the West African intervention force ECOMOG claimed to be in control of the city.
But it was far from clear whether anyone could truly be said to be in control in the city of 4.7 million people set on a hilly peninsular.
RUF commander Sam Bockarie said his forces had seized the entire city but ECOMOG was firmly in control of the international airport at Lungi, across the bay from Freeetown, and other parts of the city.
Reuters, quoting residents, said rebels were present in the city's Eastend area and parts of the central district. The rebels also said they held the seaport. The Nigerian-led ECOMOG troops, the agency said, were still patrolling the Westend with the commercial haert of the capital still disputed.
The rebels have burned the Nigerian Embassy and say they hold State House, the official seat of the presidency.
Foreign nationals and Sierra Leoneans flee
Sierra Leonean civilians, remaining foreign nationals and UN staff have fled Freetown. The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative, Francis Okelo, flew out to Guinea late yesterday (Wednesday) and refugees have already begun arriving in the port in the Guinean capital, Conakry.
The UNHCR Regional Public Information Officer, Khassim Diagne, told IRIN today that 218 Sierra Leonean refugees arrived at Bassora port yesterday along with some Guineans and Nigerians. Diagne said the refugees were being processed at Bonfi Stadium and would be transferred to the Forecariah refugee camp.
The UNHCR, WFP and other aid partners met yesterday to share tasks in view of the current situation in Sierra Leone. Contingency plan as are being made to receive about 30,000 refugees in Guinea, Diagne said.
Britain has called on its remaining 50 expatriates in Sierra Leone to leave the country. ITAR-TASS, the Russian news agency, said Russian nationals with the UN had already been evacuated. It said there had been about 50 Russian citizens in the country before the situation worsened. They were mostly pilots under contract, women married to Sierra Leoneans, and three medical doctors.
UN condemns rebels' entry into Freetown
Members of the UN Security Council condemned yesterday foreign support for Sierra Leonean rebels, Council President Ambassador Celso Amorim of Brazil said in a statement at UN Headquarters in New York. Council members "reiterated their strong support" for the democratically elected Sierra Leonean president, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and expressed its "strong support" for ECOMOG. "In this context," Amorim said, " Council members reiterated their appeal for increased international support for ECOWAS."
The Council also expressed support for diplomatic efforts, particularly regional ones, to restore peace to the country. In addition, the Council said it appreciated the work of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) "and in particular Mr. Francis Okelo".
Kabbah reportedly safe
ECOMOG has flown President Kabbah and members of his family to a military base near Freetown's international airport, Reuters reported today quoting witnesses. The agency said an ECOMOG source confirmed that Kabbah was safe but declined to disclose his whereabouts.
Abidjan, 7 December 1999, 12:00 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 12:31:28 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: SIERRA LEONE: Control of Freetown still disputed 1999.01.07
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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