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Calm returns after weekend clashes

    ABIDJAN

    Calm returned to the streets of the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, following clashes between ruling party supporters and members of the Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP) on Saturday.

    "Everything has been calm since Sunday," Margaret Novikci, spokesperson for the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) told IRIN on Monday.

    Fighting broke out between members of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's Sierra Leone People's Party and RUFP supporters close to the RUFP headquarters as campaigning for Tuesday's general elections drew to a close at midnight on Saturday.

    "No-one knows who started the stone throwing," Novicki said, adding that around 16 people were injured but there were no fatalities. The RUFP office was ransacked and destroyed by SLPP supporters and RUFP members claimed that equipment, including phones and a computer, was stolen. UN troops in armoured personnel carriers broke up hundreds of rival supporters by firing into the air, news organisations reported.

    Saturday's violence punctuated an otherwise fairly peaceful election campaign.

    Leaders of seven political parties and the National Electoral Commission signed a joint statement on Sunday condemning the "recent unfortunate events," but did not refer to any specific parties, Sierra Leone Web reported. The statement was signed by the leaders of the following seven political parties: All People's Congress, National Democratic Alliance, Peace and Liberation Party, Revolutionary United Front Party, Sierra Leone People's Party, United National People's Party, Young People's Party and by Chief Electoral Commissioner, Walter Nicol.

    Other parties participating in Tuesday's elections include Movement for Progress, Grand Alliance Party, Citizens United for Peace and Progress and People's Democratic Party.

    UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Monday that he welcomed this week's elections in Sierra Leone describing them as "an important milestone" in the peace process and urged all voters to participate fully, UN News reported.

    The elections mark the end of a tumultuous period in Sierra Leone's history during which serious rights abuses - perpetrated mainly by the RUF - including rape, torture and forced limb amputations, were carried out. The decade-long war between the RUF and the government was formally declared over in January.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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