POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: Italian Priest Abducted

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Nov 18 1998 (IPS) - Father Mario Cuerro, an Italian priest who has worked in Sierra Leone for 25 years, was abducted by six gunmen and his whereabouts are still unknown, according to reports from the northern region of the country.

Cuerro, along with a teenage boy, was bundled into a waiting vehicle on Sunday evening from the Catholic Mission at Kamalo, in the northern district of Bombali. Kamalo is situated 50 miles north of Makeni, the northern regional capital.

According to the teenager, who was later released: “They (the gunmen) took us somewhere out of the village… and then released me with a message to the Catholic Mission that Father Cuerro was well and in safe hands”.

The priest, who has served in northern Sierra Leone for 25 years, was very popular among the local parishoners who had crowned him as the honorary Paramount Chief of Kamalo.

Bishop George Biguzzi of the Catholic Mission told IPS Wednesday that “we are appealing to the people who abducted Father Cuerro from the Mission House in Kamalo to release him immediately.”

The Catholic Mission has ruled out any possibility of negotiations with the abductors, insisting that whatever the unknown kidnappers have in mind should be directed to the Sierra Leone government.

“We are simply appealing to the abductors to release the priest on humanitarian and religious grounds,” Bishop Biguzzi told IPS.

The independent newspaper, ‘Democrat’, reported Wednesday that the gunmen had demanded “communication devices as ransom for the priest’s release”. But there has been no official confirmation of contact with the gunmen.

It is not immediately known whether the abductors are members of the Revolutionary United Front (RYF) rebel movement, or renegade soldiers from the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) which was toppled in February, 1998.

Since the overthrow of the AFRC, which included RUF rebels, troops loyal to the deposed junta have perpetrated a number of atrocities against civilians, mainly women and children, in parts of the north and in the southeast of the country.

After the junta’s forceful removal by the Nigerian-led West African intervention force in February, more than 200 civilians have had their limbs amputated by the renegade soldiers.

Prior to joining the AFRC, the RUF which began in 1991 a seven- year civil war against the Sierra Leonean government, used abduction as a key strategy to attract international attention to their struggle. More than 20 foreign expatriates and nuns were abducted by the rebels and released after negotiations.

The government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah has not yet reacted officially to the abduction of the Catholic priest. However, a senior aide to President Kabbah, who declined to be named, told IPS Wednesday: “As far as the government is concerned, there is nothing to negotiate with the rebels, because an amnesty for all who surrender is still in force. They will also benefit from the demobilisation package”.

About six months ago, the government offered an amnesty to rebels who lay down their arms and surrender. A demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration exercise also is now underway.

In August, nearly 30 rebels loyal to the ousted AFRC surrendered to the ECOMOG force near the border with Liberia. This was the first time rebel troops had surrendered.

A western diplomat in Freetown speculated that the RUF rebels and their junta allies had kidnapped Father Cuerro to use him as a bargaining chip to force the government to the negotiating table.

“The (RUF) rebels want their leader Foday Sankoh released from detention and so they believe that holding the Italian priest hostage will cause Western nations to put more pressure on the Kabbah government to open up dialogue with the rebels,” the diplomat said.

IPS has learnt that the rebels have made phone calls to foreign missions in the capital to urge diplomats to encourage a fresh round of negotiations and to influence the government to release Sankoh.

The RUF leader was sentenced to death last month for his role in the May 25, 1997 coup that ousted President Kabbah’s government. Sankoh is awaiting an appeal hearing against the death sentence.