RUF rebels release former president

Former Sierra Leone president Joseph Saidu Momoh was freed by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Makeni on Thursday, the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, said. RUF leader Foday Sankoh said Momoh had been released to further the general call for forgiveness in the course of the ongoing peace process. He was flown back to Freetown by helicopter accompanied by Sankoh and officials from ECOMOG and UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and was welcomed by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Momoh had been in Pademba Road Prison since his conviction in 1998 on charges of conspiracy and helping the military junta that ousted Kabbah the previous year. Following the rebel invasion of Freetown in January, Momoh escaped from prison and was held for nearly a year by the RUF prior to his release. He was officially pardoned in July following the signing of the Lome peace accord which granted a general amnesty for all combatants. Momoh became leader of the All People’s Congress and head of state in 1985. Six years later the RUF, dissatisfied with regime, launched their insurgency, and in 1992 Captain Valentine Strasser led a coup to oust Momoh.