Cautious optimism follows Bockarie's flight

There is a mood of cautious optimism in Freetown following reports of former rebel commander Sam 'Maskita' Bockarie's flight from Sierra Leone on Thursday, the managing editor of the privately owned newspaper, 'For Di People,' told IRIN on Monday. "Good riddance to bad rubbish," is a view being expressed in the streets of Freetown following news of his disappearance, Paul Kamara said. The Economic Community of West African States Peace Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) said in a news release on Friday that Bockarie had fled Sierra Leone with his family to an "undisclosed country". Before leaving, he destroyed his field command headquarters and killed some officers loyal to the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Foday Sankoh, ECOMOG said. People are cautious about drawing conclusions but hope that Bockarie's departure signals the end of the rift in the RUF leadership, humanitarian sources in Freetown told IRIN. "I was in the market when the news was announced on the BBC," Zainab Bangura, coordinator of the Campaign for Good Governance, told IRIN on Monday. "Everyone was stunned and glued to their radios. They couldn't celebrate because they couldn't believe it. Bockarie was a nightmare for Sierra Leoneans, a man who killed with impunity and showed no remorse." Bockarie, who had been accused of holding up the peace process, had openly defied Sankoh's calls to disarm by refusing to surrender any weapons to ECOMOG forces or Nigerian soldiers. He recently accused Sankoh of sending a death squad to try and kill him and was responsible for the abduction of two Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) volunteers in what he said was an attempt to focus the attention of the international community on his dissatisfaction with the peace process. An RUF official told Reuters that Sankoh had ordered Bockarie to release the two men and then meet him in Liberia's capital Monrovia. The two MSF volunteers were released on Thursday, shortly before Bockarie disappeared. RUF spokesman Eldred Collins told IRIN on Monday that he was not able to comment on Bockarie's disappearance. He said that Sankoh, who had talks with Liberian President Charles Taylor on 14 December, was expected back from Liberia in the next couple of days and would make a statement on his return. "Sankoh did not see Bockarie in Liberia and that was not the reason for the visit," Collins said. "He went there to discuss the implementation of the Lome Peace Accord." No one is sure of Bockarie's whereabouts, whether he is still alive or under detention somewhere, Kamara said. ECOMOG said in its news release that following Bockarie's flight, the "ECOMOG High Command is optimistic that the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme can now move forward without undue hindrances". Civilians in Freetown were more reserved. "People have suffered too much to be out dancing in the streets," Kamara said.