Sierra Leone Government

Rebellious soldiers toppled Sierra Leone's elected president in a bloody coup Sunday, and an army major said he was seizing power because the government failed to maintain the peace. Soldiers led by Maj. Johnny Paul Koroma took control of the legislature in this small West African country after heavy fighting. They then burned the national treasury, prompting President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to flee into exile in neighboring Guinea.

The United States circulated a Security Council resolution Thursday to set up a special mixed Sierra Leone-international court to prosecute rebels accused of the worst atrocities in the war-ravaged West African nation. U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said the draft was "endorsed in its general framework by all the other" council members during closed-door consultations. He said he hoped that it would be voted on next week.

Seven Roman Catholic nuns held by rebels since Jan. 26 were freed Tuesday, and a priest said they were in "good shape and good spirits." Vatican officials refused to say whether a ransom was paid. The nuns, six from Italy and one from Brazil, range in age from 35 to 65. At least 16 foreigners, including the nuns, have been abducted since November.

Government forces in Sierra Leone recaptured Lunsar on Wednesday, taking control of the strategic town on the road to a major rebel base and the diamond fields of the east, a military spokesman said. Lunsar, which government forces held briefly at the end of May, reportedly fell after overnight clashes between the two sides near U.N. peacekeepers stationed in the northern town of Kabala.

A rebel faction holding Western and other hostages here freed groups of them Sunday, the fifth day of their captivity, sources close to U.N. negotiators said. At least half the 34 who remained captive earlier Sunday had reportedly been released by day's end. U.N. officials listed those released as seven U.N. military observers, six local drivers, two members of the West African ECOMOG peacekeeping force, two journalists, a Ghanaian aid worker and a Sierra Leone government official.

The United States circulated a Security Council resolution Thursday to set up a special mixed Sierra Leone-international court to prosecute rebels accused of the worst atrocities in the war-ravaged West African nation. U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said the draft was "endorsed in its general framework by all the other" council members during closed-door consultations. He said he hoped that it would be voted on next week.

A West African intervention force in Sierra Leone geared up to counterattack rebels Sunday, ferrying additional troops by helicopter toward the front line in this capital. At the same time, West African governments stepped up mediation to stop the fighting in the war-torn city. On Sunday, the violence claimed the life of a journalist from Associated Press. Colleagues said that two other AP journalists were wounded as the three traveled in a car that came under rebel fire in Freetown.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, visibly shaken by a visit to a camp for victims of Sierra Leone's brutal civil war, said Monday that the United States may call for a Balkans-style war crimes tribunal despite a peace agreement promising amnesty for rebel troops. "In the end, it is very difficult to have peace and reconciliation without justice," Albright told a news conference amid meetings with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and rebel leaders Foday Sankoh and Johnny Paul Koroma.

Rebel leader Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leone's most wanted man, was captured Wednesday and turned over to government soldiers in the West African nation. Sankoh, whose Revolutionary United Front rebels shattered a ragged 10-month peace accord earlier this month and took hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers hostage, had been missing since a May 8 clash between militiamen and his bodyguards at his villa.

Rebels in Sierra Leone who have seized part of Freetown, the capital, rejected the government's offer of a truce. Instead, the rebels hardened their political demands and vowed to continue their military offensive. Fighting in Freetown continued for a third day, according to journalists and international aid agency workers in the war-torn nation. The rebel forces of the Revolutionary United Front are fighting to unseat President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who was ousted in a May 1997 military coup.

By the time Pvt. Sorie Bangura got his hands on Foday Sankoh last Wednesday, the wounded rebel leader was quivering and pleading for his life. "People were trying to kill him, so shots were fired in the air," Bangura said outside Sankoh's ransacked home here. "He was weak. He had a bullet wound in his leg. Everyone tore off his clothes. 'I am disgraced already,' he said to me. 'Don't kill me.' " Bangura didn't kill Sankoh, who during nine days on the run was the most wanted man in Sierra Leone.

Pro-government forces advanced Sunday toward a rebel-held town that would position them to make a push against a key rebel stronghold, officials said. The pro-government forces, including members of the army, former junta soldiers and militiamen composed of traditional hunters known as the Kamajors, were fighting their way toward Lunsar, 50 miles northeast of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, said two top military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rebel leader Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leone's most wanted man, was captured Wednesday and turned over to government soldiers in the West African nation. Sankoh, whose Revolutionary United Front rebels shattered a ragged 10-month peace accord earlier this month and took hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers hostage, had been missing since a May 8 clash between militiamen and his bodyguards at his villa.

Sierra Leone, which won its independence from Britain in 1961, has experienced a long decline marked by coups, contested elections and poverty. In 1985, army commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Momoh came to power, and the country slid into a social hell of interminable fuel lines, food shortages and corruption that diverted profits from 90% of its diamond production. The civil war, from which the current shaky peace deal stems, began in the early 1990s.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, visibly shaken by a visit to a camp for victims of Sierra Leone's brutal civil war, said Monday that the United States may call for a Balkans-style war crimes tribunal despite a peace agreement promising amnesty for rebel troops. "In the end, it is very difficult to have peace and reconciliation without justice," Albright told a news conference amid meetings with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and rebel leaders Foday Sankoh and Johnny Paul Koroma.

A rebel faction holding Western and other hostages here freed groups of them Sunday, the fifth day of their captivity, sources close to U.N. negotiators said. At least half the 34 who remained captive earlier Sunday had reportedly been released by day's end. U.N. officials listed those released as seven U.N. military observers, six local drivers, two members of the West African ECOMOG peacekeeping force, two journalists, a Ghanaian aid worker and a Sierra Leone government official.

Pro-government forces advanced Sunday toward a rebel-held town that would position them to make a push against a key rebel stronghold, officials said. The pro-government forces, including members of the army, former junta soldiers and militiamen composed of traditional hunters known as the Kamajors, were fighting their way toward Lunsar, 50 miles northeast of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, said two top military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Amid charred bodies and the smoldering rubble of a punishing military victory, a Nigerian-led intervention force took control Friday of Sierra Leone's embattled capital. The coalition drove out a 9-month-old junta in a final offensive this week and is now poised to restore the ousted president--in what appears to be Africa's first successful experiment at using outside military might to return an elected government rather than topple it.

An imprisoned rebel leader will be allowed to meet with his followers in Togo next month in hopes of halting a brutal civil war. President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah said Foday Sankoh, the charismatic founder of the Revolutionary United Front, may go to Togo on April 18 to meet with rebel officers at a neutral venue. Kabbah said the government hopes for peace talks with the rebels after the meeting, and said he expects a cease-fire by April 27.

A West African intervention force in Sierra Leone geared up to counterattack rebels Sunday, ferrying additional troops by helicopter toward the front line in this capital. At the same time, West African governments stepped up mediation to stop the fighting in the war-torn city. On Sunday, the violence claimed the life of a journalist from Associated Press. Colleagues said that two other AP journalists were wounded as the three traveled in a car that came under rebel fire in Freetown.