Efforts continue to free captured soldiers

Efforts continued to obtain the release of 11 British soldiers captured by anti-government forces in Sierra Leone calling themselves the West Side Boys, according to news reports. British force commander Brigadier Gordon Hughes was quoted as saying at a news conference in Freetown on Monday that the hostages were well looked after but that he could not speculate on the demands of their abductors. The British Ministry of Defence had announced on Sunday it was sending experts in hostage negotiations to Sierra Leone, the Associated Press reported. The 11 soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Irish Regiment and their Sierra Leone army liaison officer lost radio contact on Friday with their base around the towns of Masiaka and Forudugu, 70 km east of Freetown, AP reported, quoting Hughes. The soldiers are among some 300 troops training government soldiers in their fight against the Revolutionary United Front. Up until June, the West Side Boys - former Sierra Leonean army troops - were part of a loose pro-government militia fighting to push back RUF attacks. However, they turned against the government when it moved to end carjackings and robberies.