Rawlings wants talks, end to atrocities

Ghanian President Jerry Rawlings yesterday called for negotiations to resolve the Sierra Leonean conflict, but he said the talks must be preceded by an end to rebel atrocities, the PANA news agency reported. PANA quoted Rawlings as saying that although the rebels might have legitimate concerns, “nobody will listen to them so long as they continue to kill and maim innocent civilians”. Rawlings was speaking in the capital Accra during a visit by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sierra Leone, Francis Okelo, PANA said. Ghana has military units serving with ECOMOG in Sierra Leone. Rawlings said he was not an “admirer” of Kabbah but that the intervention in Sierra Leone was meant to “consolidate democracy”, PANA reported.