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President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia has welcomed the release of the last of the 432 Zambian soldiers who had been held captive by rebel forces in Sierra Leone.
Speaking briefly to reporters on his return to the capital, Lusaka, after a political campaign trip, Chiluba said the release of 84 Zambian soldiers and a Gambian observer after weeks of uncertainty over their fate at the hands of their Revolutionary United Front (RUF) captors was “good” news.
‘The Times of Zambia’ reports Zambian army commander Lieutenant General Georjago Musengule as saying that the Zambian soldiers could not fire at the rebels to break away at the time of their capture because of the nature of the operation and the mandate they had been given.
At the time they had been ordered by the force commander to reinforce a Kenyan battalion which had been attacked by the rebels near the town of Makeni, he said.
Musengule said the RUF rebels attacked the Zambians after accusing the United Nations of forcefully disarming them. His remarks were made on his return from a visit to Sierra Leone to discuss the issue with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
He said it was not known whether four Zambian soldiers still unaccounted for had lost their lives.
“All soldiers released so far are in high spirits and in good health and will continue with the assigned task in Sierra Leone,” he said.
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
