THE former Sierra Leone rebel leader Foday Sankoh has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, a prison official said. Sankoh, who has been in custody since May, reportedly took ill some three weeks ago and his condition has been described as “critical”. Sankoh, who is believed to be around 70 years old, launched a bush war in 1991, claiming to fight against state-sponsored poverty and corruption. His rebel recruits, most of whom were children, have been accused of razing entire villages, raping, killing, and more recently amputing people’s limbs in a campaign to punish civilians for supporting a civilian government. In July 1999, Sankoh and his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) signed a peace accord which granted rebels blanket amnesty for their atrocities. The 1999 peace deal was shattered in May when rebels began seizing hundreds of UN peacekeepers hostage, triggering Sankoh’s arrest. – AFP