POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: Rebel Leader Halts Deployment Of UN Troops

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Jan 3 2000 (IPS) - The leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), corporal Foday Sankoh, has released his millennium bombshell to the war-weary Sierra Leonean population, by announcing a halt to the deployment of United Nations troops in this country.

The rebel leader, who signed a peace deal last July with government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, to end eight years of bloody civil war claims that vital elements of the agreement have not been implemented by the government and warned of a looming crisis.

“The RUF will not allow any further deployment of (the West African peace-keeping force) ECOMOG and UN troops until the joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) and Ceasefire Monitoring Committee are set up so as to attain everlasting peace in Sierra Leone,” Sankoh charged.

These two committees are among dozens of structures to be set up to help facilitate the implementation of the Lome Peace Accord, such as the area of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (ddr) of an estimated 45,000 ex-combatants.

Although the former rebel movement has transformed itself into a political party and now has members in the new government of national unity, Sankoh last weekend spoke angrily about what he described as the marginalisation of RUF ministers and officials, in that government.

“My ministers have no offices, no vehicles and are literally being cared for by myself. Is this fair? I think it’s all a sham,” Sankoh said.

While sankoh warned that such an arrangement is a recipe for renewed chaos, the rebel leader had no complimentary words for UN officials either.

He accused the UN officials as enjoying lifestyles at the expense of the suffering people, warning that any attempt by UN troops to use force in the disarmament exercise, would be stiffly resisted by the RUF.

According to the terms of the peace agreement, some 6,000 UN troops are to be deployed in various parts of the country to facilitate the disarmament exercise, and already more than half of that number have arrived in Sierra Leone waiting to be deployed.

They are mostly from India, Kenya and Nigeria and their mandate extends to 2001, when fresh elections are conducted nation-wide.

However, last week, UN Secretary general Kofi Annan responded to the phased withdrawal of ECOMOG troops from Sierra Leone, by recommending to the Security Council an additional 4,000 troops, bringing the total to 10,000 UN troops, in this volatile country.

ECOMOG, the regional peace-keeping force, which is dominated by Nigerians and has since been primarily responsible for provision of security for the government, has withdrawn most of its 12,000- strong force.

The force will now be replaced by UN troops which are still waiting to be deployed, while the disarmament exercise was officially supposed to have ended in December.

For its reaction, the government, through Attorney General Solomon Berewa, says it is the RUF that has been compounding the problem.

Berewa said: “The whole process is being delayed by the RUF which still refuses unhindered access to areas under its control and insists on stringent conditions for its participation in various committees.”

He added that the government has apologised to the UN Secretary General for Sankoh’s outbursts. “(Sankoh’s) statements were unfortunate and the issue of deploying UN troops is non- negotiable,” he said.

Berewa said the government is financially handicapped as a result of the RUF’s destructive war and is therefore not in a good position to meet all the logistical demands of the RUF ministers and officials in government.

“Everything should be preceded by the disarmament exercise which is a key to bringing peace in the country,” the Attorney General concluded.

But analysts in Sierra Leone have expressed concern about the potential danger ahead of the fragile peace process if the emerging differences are not resolved.

A western diplomat in the capital Freetown told IPS Monday: “The situation is still fragile as there is the apparent unwillingness on the part of rebel leaders to fully co-operate with the disarmament process. Perhaps more pressure needs to be heaped.”