Sierra leone “highly unstable”, EIU says

The ‘Economist Intelligence Unit’, in its latest country review, has described Sierra Leone as “highly unstable” and warns that the security situation will continue to dominate any forecasting for the country. The report says that at first glance, the restored government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah appears to have made siginficant progress. But, it adds, Kabbah’s “deft handling” of plans to restructure the armed forces was “as encouraging as his refusal to negotiate with rebel leader Foday Sankoh was disappointing”. The EIU predicts much will be decided in the coming months. The UN’s 1999 inter-agency appeal for Sierra Leone notes that conflict continues to plague efforts to recover from the psychological, economic and humanitarian consequences of the junta period. “The rebels have systematically committed massive human rights [abuses] including mutilations, sexual exploitation and forced recruitment of child soldiers to wage a desperate and senseless campaign of terror on rural civilians,” the appeal says. Junta remnants roaming around the bush present a “formidable obstacle” to the provision of humanitarian assistance.