By Lansana Fofana
FREETOWN, Feb 15 1999 (IPS)

Pressure is mounting on Sierra Leonean President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah to hold talks with rebels in order to end the eight-year conflict in the West African country.

The demand for dialogue heightened after the Jan 6 attack on the capital Freetown, which left more than 5,000 people, mostly civilians, dead.

During the attack, which lasted for more than a week, the rebels also burned down about a quarter of Freetown’s residential houses.

Before the invasion, the government had adopted a hard-line policy against the rebels, vowing to crush them. The government was assured by the about 20,000 Nigerian-led West African peace- keeping force ‘ECOMOG’, which is propping the embattled administration of President Kabbah, that all-out victory was in sight.

But with the rebels scoring successes on the battlefield and the human and economic cost to the impoverished nation, a political settlement to the eight-year civil war appears to be gaining momentum.

“How long can we (civilians) be at the receiving end of rebel barbarity?,” asks Hassan Bangura, a civil servant in Freetown. “My house and two cars were burnt and property estimated at tens of thousands of dollars looted by the rebels.”

“I think it is time for dialogue with the enemy and not flexing of muscles,” he says.

An opposition legislator, who refused to be named for security reasons, also called for talks.

“This is a totally senseless war and it is costing the country immense loses, both in terms of human lives and infrastructure. I think that the government should embark on negotiations with the rebels, if we are to save what is left of our devastated country,” he says.

Independent newspapers have also joined the fray. The few tabloids which have managed to hit the newstands, since the dust settled over the invasion of Freetown, have been running a series of commentaries on the subject of dialogue with rebels.

“Tired of war — Kabah Must Negotiate,” screamed a headline in the New Storm newspaper last week. The tabloid claims to have conducted an opinion poll in which “almost 100 percent of those interviewed are of the view that the only way forward for the government is to talk peace with the rebels.”

“No war has been won on the battlefield. It is therefore imperative on government to quickly and effectively exploit the possibility of seeking a peaceful and lasting settlement to the conflict,” said the paper in an editorial.

Following the mounting pressure, President Kabbah last week told the nation that he was receptive to dialogue with the rebels, provided the later ceases all hostilities against the civilian population.

“The doors to negotiations are open but the rebels must first recognise the legitimacy of my government, diasrm and demobilise and take advantage of a general amnesty,” the President said.

Kabbah has urged civic groups and the general population to join the debate and make meaningful suggestions to the government about the modalities for peaceful negotiations.

Other diplomatic ways of ending the war are also being sought by regional leaders who have committed troops to ECOMOG in Sierra Leone.

Nigerian head of state, Gen Abdulsalaam Abubakar recently met his Guinean and Ghanian counterparts, who both have troops in Sierra Leone, to encourage dialogue between the government and rebel forces.

The special representative of the United Nations secretary general to Sierra Leone, Francis Okelo, has also been touring the West African region, in a bid to finding a lasting solution to the conflict.

The UN envoy met with government officials in Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea stressing the need for dialogue between the government and rebels.

Sierra Leone’s vocal National Union of Students (NUSS) warned that they would start boycotting lectures until the government shows positive commitment towards a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

“We (students) were a key target in the rebel carnage because we have been unwavering in our opposition to the rebels plan to shoot their way to power by force; but we now doubt the efficacy of the military option and are more inclined towards dialogue,” said a NUSS leader.

The rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and their allies of the defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) have expressed cautious welcome to the government’s peace overture.

RUF’s London spokesman, Omrie Golley, said last week they were ready for a political settlement and would not rule out future power-sharing with government.

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