OWN CORRESPONDENT, Abidjan | Thursday 11.15pm.
A SENIOR rebel commander in Sierra Leone said on Thursday that he has agreed to a temporary ceasefire to halt hostilities in the capital Freetown.
Rebels of the Revolutionary United Front invaded the city last week, and have since been fighting Nigerian intervention troops of the regional Ecomog force. Much of the city has been destroyed and aid agencies have warned of an impending humanitarian disaster.
The ceasefire will not take effect before Monday, so that the word can get out to all fighters, RUF field commander Sam Bockarie said in a satellite telephone interview.
After “lengthy discussions” with Liberian President Charles Taylor, the rebels agreed to a “temporary ceasefire,” rebel spokesperson Eldred Collins said for Bockarie, who was suffering from malaria and passed Collins the phone. “I insist that the ceasefire is temporary,” Collins said, adding it will take a few days for the agreement to take effect. “It will take some time to inform our fighting forces in the jungle, so we have extended the day and it will take effect after we get into contact with all of our men Monday or Tuesday,” Collins said.
Earlier on Thursday Taylor said the RUF, who invaded Freetown on Januay 6, had agreed to a ceasefire to take effect on Saturday.
Meanwhile, rebels Freetown have killed two government ministers and a senior Ecomog officer, according to diplomatic sources. The killings are thought to have taken place on Sunday or Monday in a neighbourhood that Ecomog had claimed was cleared of rebels. According to corroborating sources, one of the dead, Mohammed Sesay, minister of state for the presidency, was considered to be one of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’s close advisors. The other civilian victim, YP Koroma, was resident minister in Sierra Leone’s Northern Region. The identity of the Ecomog officer has not been disclosed. He was believed to be a Nigerian general. — AFP