THE government of Sierra Leone has asked the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal on crimes against humanity to try rebel leader Foday Sankoh and others. Information Minister Julius Spencer said on Tuesday that the government had requested a tribunal on Sierra Leonean soil to operate under a combination of local and international law. “The initial work has begun,” said the minister. Sankoh was arrested near his Freetown home on May 17 and has been held at a secret location ever since. Sankoh’s Revolutionary United front gained notoriety during the course of Sierra Leone’s eight-year civil war, which saw the systematic murder, rape and mutilation of civilians, including children.