SIERRA LEONE: REFUGEES FLEEING FROM REBEL ADVANCE START ARRIVING IN FREETOWN.

Record ID: 274804

  • Title: SIERRA LEONE: REFUGEES FLEEING FROM REBEL ADVANCE START ARRIVING IN FREETOWN.
  • Date: 10th May 2000
  • Summary: NEAR WATERLOO, ON HIGHWAY FROM MASIAKA TO FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (MAY 9 2000)(REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV: PEOPLE CARRYING BELONGINGS, WALKING ALONG ROAD (4 SHOTS) 0.17 2. GV: TRUCK CARRYING REFUGEES PASSING THROUGH UN CHECKPOINT (2 SHOTS) 0.28 3. MV: PEOPLE SEARCHED AT CHECKPOINT 0.35 4. GV/PAN/MV: REFUGEES WITH BELONGINGS AT SIDE OF
  • Embargoed: 25th May 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: FREETOWN AND NEAR WATERLOO, SIERRA LEONE
  • Country: Sierra Leone
  • Reuters ID: LVA92JQW5ZJSCJEQ37WS25FN3M0D
  • Story Text: Thousands of frightened civilians are streaming into
    Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, saying that they are fleeing
    a rebel advance towards the city.

    The civilians, crammed into trucks and taxis with their
    meagre belongings or simply on foot, said that soldiers
    advised them to leave their homes after reports of fighting
    for the strategic crossroads town of Masiaka, 56 km (35 miles)
    from the city.

    British troops on Tuesday (May 9) airlifted more than 100
    UK, Commonwealth and EU nationals out of Sierra Leone amid
    fears that tensions between the western African state's
    government and rebel forces may erupt into widespread
    bloodshed.

    There are thousands of United Nations soldiers in Sierra
    Leone, but their mission is proving a disaster.Hundreds have
    been taken prisoner by rebel guerrillas, the rest seem
    unwilling or unable to do much about it.

    The British paratroopers are in Sierra Leone, not only to
    rescue civilians, but also to show the international community
    Britain can operate successfully in this troubled continent.

    Two peacekeepers, a Kenyan and a Nigerian, are missing in
    Sierra Leone and are presumed dead while three other U.N.

    soldiers from Nigeria and Kenya are missing.

    The five were among the 500 peacekeepers taken hostage by
    rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), 400 of them
    Zambians.The other captives are from Kenya, India and
    Nigeria.

    The United Nations has 8,700 troops scattered throughout
    the country, with more than 2,000 others expected in the next
    few weeks.They are in the West African nation to supervise a
    crumbling peace agreement and disarmament of the rebels.

    Sierra Leone rebel leader Foday Sankoh has slipped from
    view after his home in Freetown was stormed by a rival faction
    but he remains central to the outcome of the latest security
    crisis in the West African country.

    Military sources in Freetown said on Wednesday that Sankoh
    was being held by the Sierra Leone army since his house was
    stormed and ransacked by a rival militia group.The reports
    could not be confirmed.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register