Rebels release six, detain 318

Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels on Friday released a UN helicopter, its four-man crew and two civilian passengers, Fred Eckhard, spokesman of the UN Secretary-General, told journalists in New York.

He said, however, that the number of UN personnel detained by the rebels continued to climb. “The latest estimates could be as high as 318,” he said.

When the first reports of attacks by the RUF against UN peacekeepers surfaced at the start of the week, the number of UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) personnel held by the rebels was estimated at about 20. It mounted to 49 by Wednesday and 92 by Thursday.

While the six were released on Friday, a 208-strong Zambian contingent on its way to the northern town of Makeni was disarmed and detained by the RUF, Eckhard said, and 24 other UN personnel were being held in Kailahun in the east, bringing the total to 318. Another 100 Nigerian peacekeepers near the northern town of Kambia were detained, disarmed and then released, according to Eckhard.

The death toll remained at four while 12 people had been reported wounded, he said.

There were no reports of fighting in Sierra Leone on Friday but, according to Eckhard, 13 out of 16 armoured personnel carriers which the Zambians had had been taken by the RUF. He said there were unconfirmed reports that the rebels were on the move, but he had no specific information on their location or destination.

Negotiations continued for the release of the detainees but there was so far no indication of when they might be freed, J.S. Sandhu, a UNAMSIL military press officer in Freetown told IRIN on Friday. “A lot of people are flying into Freetown to talk to the rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, to secure their release,” he said. “We are waiting for the outcome.”

The situation remained tense in Makeni, Magburaka and Port Loko in the north, and Kailahun (the areas affected by this week’s insecurity), according to Sandhu. He, too, said he had not heard of any fresh fighting.

The release of the helicopter crew and passengers, who flew back to Freetown from Kailahun, where they had been detained, was the first concrete sign that regional diplomatic efforts involving Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Libya and Liberia had borne any fruit.

Liberian President Charles Taylor had said on Thursday that Sankoh had promised him that the six would be released on Friday. “Taylor told the Secretary-General yesterday (Thursday) that he’d been tough with Sankoh in the conversation he had with him,” Eckhard said.

Speaking on the BBC on Friday, Taylor described the situation in Sierra Leone as very disturbing and said that the “peace process must continue”.

“It is foolish,” he said, “to believe that you can challenge the UN... To have a firefight with the UN is a grave mistake, a very dangerous mistake, and it must be stopped.”