Blood diamond rebels face war-crimes verdict

Sierra Leone's war crimes court will hand down its verdict on Wednesday against three rebels accused of committing atrocities during the civil war.

Court to rule on blood diamond rebels

Sierra Leone's war crimes tribunal will hand down a verdict on Wednesday against three rebel RUF commanders accused of carrying out a killing spree.

Sierra Leone beach bars demolished in tourism revamp

Demolition teams this week smashed up popular beach bars as part of an improvement scheme to develop tourism in Sierra's Leone's capital, Freetown.

Severe floods hit Sierra Leonean capital

Several parts of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, were submerged in more than 1m of water on Friday after torrential rain, meteorologists said.

Sierra Leone police seize 600kg of cocaine

Police in Sierra Leone arrest foreigners and Sierra Leoneans after seizing a record 600kg of cocaine at Lungi International Airport.

Court chases $375m from Charles Taylor's banks

Prosecutors for Sierra Leone's war crimes court are trying to track down $375-million they say vanished from two United States bank accounts held by former Liberian President Charles Taylor when he was forced from power in 2003. But lawyers defending the former warlord challenged prosecutors to produce evidence that Taylor had salted away state funds for his personal use.

Rising food prices leave Sierra Leoneans bitter

As Sierra Leoneans prepare to celebrate the 47th anniversary of their country's independence on Sunday, the mood is not festive, but bitter, as people find it more difficult to put food on the table. Rising food prices have swept the West African state, and have also raised expectations on the government to act to soften the blow for consumers.

World credit crunch may be good for Africa, says financier

Africa will be well-placed to weather a global economic downturn if it uses high oil and commodities prices to diversify its economies, one of the continent's most successful businessmen said in an interview. Nigerian tycoon Aliko Dangote said the world's poorest continent could benefit while developed nations suffered an economic slowdown.

Sierra Leone hopes to 'downsize' army

Sierra Leone's military chiefs are working on means to downsize from its current 10 000 soldiers to 8 500, Defence Minister Palo Conteh said on Friday, according to a state radio report. "We cannot allow a large army ...We have to downsize to a lean army that can react quickly to a given situation," he said.

Sierra Leone court upholds war-crimes convictions

A United Nations-backed court on Friday upheld the convictions of three former rebel leaders who were sentenced to half-century prison terms last year for rape, murder and other war crimes committed during Sierra Leone's decade-long conflict. The three were leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.

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