Religious leaders pray for peace

Religious leaders gathered together on Thursday in Freetown to pray for peace, Alimamy Philip Koroma, General Secretary of the Council for Churches told IRIN on Friday. Over 80 leaders representing Catholics, Protestants and Muslims attended the retreat in Kingston, Freetown. They spent the day “in reflection and prayer,” Koroma said. He said he hoped the retreat, the first of its kind, would now be ongoing. Koroma said the retreat had been preceded on 3-9 March by a national week of prayer and fasting for peace. Even as the religious leaders prayed for peace there were fears in Freetown of new offensives by both government and rebel forces. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) had claimed on Wednesday that government troops were planning a major offensive against rebel positions in early April, according to AFP. Asked about this, ECOMOG spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukulade told IRIN on Thursday that “as long as the rebels continue to fight we plan every day to contain them.” He confirmed to IRIN that ECOMOG had increased its patrols in Freetown “to ensure no rebel infiltration”. However he denied reports of clashes on the outskirts of the city, saying that “ECOMOG is in full charge of the Freetown peninsula and there is no fighting going on, to the best of my knowledge.” Meanwhile, Sierra Leone’s detained rebel leader, Foday Sankoh has ordered his forces not to launch a new attack on the capital, telling them peace is on the way, Reuters said, quoting diplomatic sources in Freetown. The rebels had been reported as saying they would attack the capital on Saturday, a Muslim festival, according to Reuters but since Sankoh’s reported call, RUF field commanders have agreed not to attack, according to news reports.