Rebel Leader Pledges Attack
By Tim Sullivan
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, March 10, 1999; 2:35 p.m. EST
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) -- A top commander in the rebel group
trying to oust Sierra Leone's government said Wednesday that he would
ignore his leader's calls for a cease-fire and threatened to launch another
all-out attack on government forces.
Gen. Sam Bockarie said his soldiers would not listen to jailed rebel leader
Foday Sankoh, who told the rebels Tuesday to put down their arms.
''We are ready to fight,'' Bockarie warned in a telephone interview.
Sankoh was briefly released Tuesday from a Freetown jail for a press
conference, where he called on his commanders to observe a unilateral
cease-fire. But Bockarie said he believes Sankoh's statement was
coerced.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone's president reiterated Wednesday that he was
willing to meet with the rebels to negotiate an end to the war if rebels
agree to stop fighting and publicly recognize his government.
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah said he would also be willing to release
Sankoh, who was convicted of treason in October and sentenced to
death.
''If I have to use my clemency to release Sankoh in order to bring a
lasting solution to my country, I will do that,'' Kabbah told journalists
Wednesday in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
The rebels have killed, maimed and raped thousands of people in a mass
terror campaign in their bid to topple Kabbah. In January, large parts of
Freetown were reduced to rubble and at least 3,000 people were killed
after the rebels launched a massive attack on the capital.
The rebels were eventually beaten back by soldiers from the
Nigerian-lead West African intervention force that is backing Kabbah's
government.
Kabbah said he has assurances from Sankoh and other members of the
rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front, that they are ''prepared for
serious dialogue.''
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press |
