General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
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Sierra Leone's rebels, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), who have fought a bitter eight-year civil war mostly in the countryside, finally brought their armed campaign to Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, earlier this year. Citing sources within the Nigerian-led West African ECOMOG forces, several news organizations have reported that the rebels infiltrated Freetown beginning in December by disguising themselves as refugees. The RUF's assault on the capital, which began January 6th and devastated most of the city, was driven back by ECOMOG forces after several days of fighting. Reuters and the Associated Press both report that ECOMOG has won back most of the capital, but there is still fighting in the surrounding hills and the eastern part of the city. Quoting a U.N. official, the Associated Press reports that the "rebel offensive . . . left approximately 3,000 civilians dead and created an acute need for medicine, health care, and sanitation." According to MISNA, a Catholic news agency, among those killed were two Roman Catholic nuns. This latest round of fighting has also displaced thousands of people, including Bishop Joseph Humper, head of the United Methodist Church of Sierra Leone, and Mr. Abraham Sellu, a board member of the General Board of Global Ministries. An estimated 50,000 displaced people are crammed in a soccer stadium, "short of food, vulnerable to disease," reports the Washington Post. The elected government of Sierra Leone has accused neighboring Liberia of training the RUF rebels and supplying them with weapons. The Liberian government has denied the allegations. At a recent meeting in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Advocacy Network for Africa, Liberia's ambassador to the United States, Rachel Diggs, reiterated her government's claim that it was not involved in the Sierra Leone conflict. She said that her government would welcome an independent investigation into the allegations made by Sierra Leone's government that Liberia was playing a role in the conflict. The Sierra Leone government has also accused Burkina Faso of providing logistical support for the rebels and has alleged that Ukrainian mercenaries have been seen fighting alongside rebel soldiers. The Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday Sankoh, has been fighting in Sierra Leone since 1991. According to BBC News Online, when the RUF rebels started their campaign, many people did not take them seriously because they appeared to be "a puppet movement, an offshoot of Liberian fighting factions," but the rebel movement "soon took on a life of its own and attracted disaffected young men from the impoverished countryside." The RUF's armed campaign has been characterized by many as savage, often targeting unarmed civilians. Several news organizations, including the Washington Post, report that the rebels sometimes chop off the hands of captured men, women, and children as a warning to those who do not support their movement. In a letter recently addressed to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright regarding the crisis in Sierra Leone, Reynold Levy, President of the International Rescue Committee, wrote that rape, kidnapping, and burning villagers alive are just some of the methods used by the insurgents against anyone suspected of favoring the democratically elected government. Since Sierra Leone does not have an army, it has relied mostly on the Nigerian-led West African ECOMOG forces to defend the country against the insurgents. Last year, after a coup by military officers overthrew President Kabbah, ECOMOG forces restored him to power and the army of Sierra Leone was disbanded. Now it appears that the government of Sierra Leone, in collaboration with the Nigerian army, has begun training 5,000 soldiers as part of a new Sierra Leonean army. Quoting a Nigerian general, Reuters reports that the troops being recruited would be used to "block the Sierra Leone-Liberia border." The general added that more soldiers from other West African countries will be sent to protect Sierra Leone while the new army is being developed. Many countries in the region, including Nigeria, Sierra Leone's main military backer, have been advising President Kabbah to negotiate with the rebels. To date, rebel leader Foday Sankoh, whom the government captured last year and sentenced to death for treason, is still in jail. The rebels have demanded his release as a precondition for a cease-fire, but so far the government has refused to free him. Fearing that the conflict may spread to the rest of the already volatile West African region, many organizations, including the All-Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) based in Nairobi, are planning initiatives to bring peace to Sierra Leone. According to the Reverend Mulunda Nyanga, a United Methodist who is Executive Director of International Relations for the AACC, his organization is planning a meeting in April to be held in Conakry, Guinea. The meeting, says the Reverend Mulunda, will bring together all of Sierra Leone's church leaders to seek a way to end the war. February 9, 1999 News About Africa
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