Two shot at Cape Sierra Hotel

An armed man attacked Minister of Trade and Industry Mike Lamin on Wednesday in the Cape Sierra Hotel but wounded two others, according to news reports on Friday. The shooting occurred shortly after Gabriel Foday entered Lamin’s room for a family meeting, ECOMOG said on Thursday. Foday is described as a relative and former aide to Lamin, an ex-RUF rebel. An ECOMOG soldier assigned to protect Lamin, Abubakar Ahmed, was wounded in the attack as was one of the minister’s aides, Chippi Ansumana. They are receiving treatment at the ECOMOG field hospital. Foday has been handed over to the police for questioning, ECOMOG said. Observers told IRIN on Friday that tension has heightened in Freetown during the past week, mainly due to the recent arrival of hundreds of RUF members. These RUF supporters came to witness the first stage in the transformation of the RUF into a political party on Monday. ECOMOG spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukolade told IRIN that these supporters were civilians and were thoroughly searched by ECOMOG before being allowed to enter the city. He added that of the 600 who had arrived, an unspecified number had returned to the countryside. The Cape Sierra, unlike its neighbour the Hotel Mamy Yoko which was shelled and looted during the rebel incursion in May 1997, is the only international hotel in Freetown that functioned throughout the war and was considered as relatively safe.