Sierra Leone, UN in talks to free British troops

Sierra Leone, UN in talks to free British troops
REUTERS

FREETOWN, AUG 28: Sierra Leone's Government and UN officials on Monday kept up negotiations with renegade soldiers for the release of 11 British troops held hostage since Friday.

``UNAMSIL (United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone) military observers and Jordanian peace-keepers at Masiaka, close to the base of the West Side Boys, continue to have dialogue with the West Side Boys for the immediate release of the 11 British soldiers and one Sierra Leonean soldier,'' UNAMSIL military spokesman Patrick Coker told radio Pro-Democracy 98.1.

He said UN observers were in daily contact with the WestSide Boys -- soldiers from the former Sierra Leone army who claim allegiance to the military junta that ruled the country from a 1997 coup until its ouster in early 1998.

He said the abducted soldiers were understood to be ``well and safe'', adding he was hopeful they would be freed soon.

Asked if UNAMSIL was prepared to use force if negotiations failed, Coker said: ``UNAMSIL's position in Sierra Leone is for peace. We are not going to use force. We believe by the efforts of UNAMSIL, the Government and the British themselves they will be released very soon.''

The West Side Boys have demanded food, medicine and the release of one of their leaders from prison in return for freeing the Britons and one Sierra Leonean soldier who was captured with them.

A Sierra Leonean official said the Government was appealing for the immediate release of the hostages with no preconditions.

British personnel were also involved in the negotiations, Government officials said.

Military sources said an intensive search for the men was also underway by British, Sierra Leone and UN troops.

British Armed Forces Minister John Spellar confirmed that contact had been made with a leader of the West Side Boys, who had reported the 12 were being well treated.

Former junta leader Johnny Paul Koroma called on Sunday for the release of hostages.

In a letter to the fighters, Koroma said, ``The continuing holding of people coming to Sierra Leone to assist in the peace-process does not augur well. I therefore ask you that, the earlier the better, you free the British soldiers.''

Koroma said he was not only asking them to free the captives ``but also demanding that (they) get out from the Bush and disarm to the United Nations peacekeepers to join the peace-process''.

The West Side Boys have disregarded earlier appeals from Koroma to surrender.

Radio contact with the British soldiers was lost at about 1545 GMT on Friday when they were in the Masiaka-Forodugu area, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Freetown.

About 400 British troops are in Sierra Leone training a new army and the abducted soldiers are part of that mission.

British soldiers intervened in May when rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) took hundreds of UN peacekeepers hostage and a civil war peace agreement fell apart.

The UN hostages were later released and Britain withdrew most of its forces, except for the training detachment.

The West Side Boys at first fought alongside government forces in May against their former allies in the RUF but, when the makeshift alliance unravelled, they took to the hills in the area where the Britons were abducted.

British officials would not comment on a report in a British Sunday tabloid, News of the World, that a 12-strong squad from the Special Air Service (SAS) had been sent to rescue the soldiers.