Sankoh plotting a coup, government says

Evidence has been gathered by the government which suggests that before his recent disappearance Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh was involved in planning a coup and other illegal activities after the signing of a peace treaty in July, Information Minister Julius Spencer told IRIN on Monday.

Documents collected from his home in Freetown, interviews with people connected to him and other information reveal details of Sankoh’s alleged involvement in the plot, the recruiting and training of child soldiers and illicit diamond trading, Spencer said.

“There are agreements with foreign companies, made without authorisation from the government, with Sankoh’ signature as chairman of the Commission for the Management of Strategic Reources, National Reconstruction and Development,” he said. He added that there was also a comprehensive list showing that Sankoh received 2,134 diamonds from one RUF mining site alone between September 1999 and January 2000, which “we expect he smuggled out and sold”.

The government has also received details of a planned coup attempt from his associates and documents as well as detailed lists of child soldiers giving information on when and where they were captured.

Sankoh disappeared on 8 May during a demonstration outside his home attended by thousands of Sierra Leoneans demanding an end to the detention of UN peacekeepers and other RUF violations of the Lome Peace Accord. While his bodyguards fired into the crowd killing several people and injuring many more, Sankoh fled from the house and has not been heard of or seen since. The UN and the government have denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.

“We think Sankoh is still at large and are convinced he is not dead,” Spencer said on Monday.