Evacuations

Britain’s foreign secretary, Robin Cook, announced on Sunday that his government had advised British nationals to leave Sierra Leone. There are believed to be about 500 British citizens in Sierra Leone.

“We have been following the situation in Sierra Leone with deep anxiety,” he said in a statement. “We have decided today that we will reduce our non-essential staff (...) in Sierra Leone and we are advising those British nationals who do not have essential reasons for remaining to leave Sierra Leone.”

Cook blamed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh for the current crisis in the West African nation, which broke out last week when the RUF attacked and detained members of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL)

“The responsibility for the present crisis within Sierra Leone rests fairly and squarely with Foday Sankoh and the rebel forces,” he said. “They have now broken all the agreements that they signed, they have brought war back to Sierra Leone in place of peace.”

He said the situation appeared to have been triggered by UNAMSIL’s attempts to deploy to the diamond-producing areas of Sierra Leone, occupied by RUF rebels. Cook underlined the importance of the need for strict regulation of the diamond trade so that illicit diamonds being sold on European markets do not fuel civil strife within Africa, the foreign office statement said.

The US state department, too, has condemned the actions by the RUF in contravention of the Lome Peace Accord signed in July.

UN agencies have also started evacuating non-essential staff from Sierra Leone, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Monday.