| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
ABIDJAN, 9 August (IRIN) - The government of Sierra Leone hopes the remaining hostages held by former Sierra Leonean Army (ex-SLA) rebels will soon be freed, although there have been no new developments since Sunday, Information Minister, Julius Spencer told IRIN on Monday.
"We are hoping that they will be released soon," Spencer said, adding that the hostages freed so far, about half of those taken, were all in good health.
According to Spencer, rebels released seven UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) military observers, two soldiers from the ECOWAS Peace Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), four civilians and six drivers on Sunday. Negotiations involving the government, UNOMSIL and others are still ongoing to try and secure the release of the remaining hostages.
According to Spencer, 14 ECOMOG soldiers, two Sierra
Leonean soldiers, four UNOMSIL observers and one civilian
are still in captivity. However, one of the hostages
released on Sunday, radio journalist Pasco Temple,
said some 20 ECOMOG soldiers and officers were still
being held, while a British Foreign Office spokesman
said three British UNOMSIL officers and one other UNOMSIL
observer were still in captivity, sources in Freetown
told IRIN.
By last Thursday the rebels had released Bishop Giorgio
Biguzzi of Makeni, a UN spokeswoman, three military
observers, a journalist and a UN human rights officer.
The UN-led team, including military and civilian personnel and escorted by Nigerian ECOMOG troops, was on a mission to gain the release of over 100 children abducted by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) rebels during Sierra Leone's civil war.
However instead of releasing the children, the rebels detained the delegation, asked for food and medicine and demanded the release of their leader, Johnny Paul Koroma who, led SLA's coup against President Kabbah in 1997.
The kidnappers believed Koroma was being held by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, who negotiated the 7 July Lome Peace Agreement with the government. In response, Koroma at the weekend appealed to his men via the BBC to release the hostages as well as the children.
Observers in Freetown say one of the real issues at stake is that the AFRC rebels see themselves as former professional soldiers who want to be reintegrated into the new army and have more of a stake in the recent peace settlement.
According to reports out of Freetown, the situation is compounded by logistical difficulties such as the fact that the exact location of the camp is unknown, and that a river that lies between its general location and Freetown has been swollen by heavy rains over the past few days.
[END]
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Item: irin-english-1387
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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