Ouagadougou again rejected as venue

Presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN today (Thursday) he had not yet seen the document, but reiterated the government’s position that Ougadougou would be unacceptable as a venue “given that the Burkina Faso president is implicated in the Sierra Leone crisis”. He also said the rebels had rejected a proposal that they meet Sankoh offshore on board a British ship near Guinea. “We are now waiting to hear from them,” he said, adding that other venues had not been discounted. A dialogue between the rebels and Sankoh must take place ahead of negotiations with the government, he stressed.

National Security Adviser Sheka Mansaray meanwhile said the government was still in favour of talks, despite continued fighting with the rebels in eastern Sierra Leone, according to the Sierra Leone news website. “The government is not retreating from the proposed peace negotiations with the rebels,” he said.