Relative calm reported in Freetown

Freetown was relatively calm on Tuesday, one day after a peaceful demonstration turned sour when Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels fired on protesters, killing several and injuring many, sources in Freetown told IRIN.

“Some armed soldiers, police and a few British paratroopers can be seen on the streets, but people are moving about freely,” Alimamy Koroma, secretary-general of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone, said.

There had been sporadic violence on Monday night, though, and not all shops were open on Tuesday, the BBC reported.

Reports of RUF rebels infiltrating Freetown were “absolutely not true”, Presidential Spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN on Tuesday. “Freetown is secure,” he said.

However, Koroma told IRIN, there were reports of ex-Sierra Leone Army (SLA), Civil Defence Forces (CDF) and the police Special Security Division (SSD) moving towards RUF positions in the provinces.

The recent developments in Sierra Leone have led to a realignment of the forces there, with former RUF ally Johnny Paul Koroma of the former Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) calling on his forces to support the government against the rebels. Following his call, some 700 former combatants were reported to have left a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) camp at Lungi near Freetown and to be moving through the jungle towards Port Loko, north of the capital, Alimamy Koroma said. “Some are thought to be armed, others are not,” he added.

On Monday, thousands of civilian protestors had marched peacefully to the house of RUF leader Foday Sankoh to show their opposition to RUF attempts to derail the Lome Peace Accord signed by Sankoh and the government in July 1999.

Sankoh disappeared during the demonstration, which followed the detention of up to 500 UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) peacekeepers in various parts of the country since last week.

BBC reported that his home was overrun and “comprehensively looted” by former-SLA troops after his disappearance. Since then, the ex-SLA, CDF and SSD have been conducting house-to-house searches for RUF rebels, Alimamy Koroma said. “A member of parliament said that one or two arrests have been made,” he added.