Ex-AFRC/SLA offered army posts

Three members of the former Sierra Leone Army/Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (ex-SLA/AFRC) have been offered positions in the new SLA, Sierra Leonean Information Minister Julius Spencer told IRIN on Friday. He said this was linked to the restructuring and reorganisation of the army. Gabriel Mani, a leading member of the ex-SLA/AFRC has been offered a military post within the army's Training and Plans department provided he reverts to the rank of colonel. Mani, who has been referring to himself as a brigadier, has not yet responded to the offer, Spencer said. Colonels A.S. Kamara and Kis Kamara have accepted positions within the Pioneer and Labour Unit and Medical Services respectively, Spencer said. Mani is reportedly linked to a militia group called the 'West Side Boys,' believed to include both ex-SLA/AFRC soldiers and criminals. The government told them to disarm some two weeks ago following clashes with other pro-government forces but, Spencer said, "they have a fear of disarming because they fear maltreatment if they return to their home communities because of what they have done". None of the West Side Boys, believed to number a few hundred, have disarmed so far. Most have returned to their base in the Occra Hills east of Freetown. Spencer said the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and government officials were still talking to them in a bid to resolve the issue.