- Title: SIERRA LEONE: COUP LEADER MAJOR JOHNNY PAUL KOROMAH FIRST PICTURES
- Date: 30th May 1997
- Summary: FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (MAY 30, 1997) (RTV) QUALITY AS INCOMING 1. LV REBEL SUPPORTERS RALLYING IN SPORTS STADIUM 0.09 2. MV COUP LEADER ARMY GENERAL JOHNNY PAUL KOROMAH ARRIVES SURROUNDED BY SOLDIERS 0.16 3. SLV KOROMAH AMONGST SUPPORTERS AND SOLDIERS/ADDRESSING CROWD ON LOUDHAILERS 0.27 4. SCU SUPPORTER 0.31 5. MV SOLDIER USING LOUDHAILER AND HANDS IT TO KOROMAH/ SOLDIER HANDS ANOTHER LOUDHAILER TO KOROMAH WHICH FAILS TO WORK 0.51 6. HAS/PAN SEA OF SUPPORTERS LISTENING TO KOROMAH 0.59 7. SV/TS KOROMAH LEAVING, SURROUNDED BY SUPPORTERS AND SOLDIERS (2 SHOTS) 1.36 8. SLV LINE OF SUPPORTERS WITH BANNER WALK THROUGH CROWDS 1.46 9. SCU SUPPORTER WEARING A MONKEY MASK AND HOLDING A TELEPHONE MOUTHPIECE 1.59 10. SCU SUPPORTERS DANCE AND SING WITH BANNERS 2.07 11. SLV COUP SUPPORTERS DANCING AND SINGING THROUGH STREETS WITH BANNERS (2 SHOTS) 2.35 12. LAS NIGERIAN JET FLYING OVERHEAD 2.46 Initials S3/2 P3/2 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 14th June 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
- City:
- Country: AFRICA Sierra Leone
- Reuters ID: LVA8WCS9VUF6R698LF66AF7T0HDW
- Story Text: - INTRO: The first pictures have arrived of Sierra Leone's military coup leader Major Johnny Paul Koromah and his supporters at a rally in the capital Freetown.
They were the first pictures from Sierra Leone of Major Johnny Paul Koromah, leader of the violent coup by junior officers.
Chanting, banner-waving supporters gathered in the city's sports stadium on Friday (May 30) to greet Koromah following the overthrow of Sierra Leone's government. Nigerian jets flew over the chaos-wracked city.
Koromah's troops allied with rebel fighters on Monday (June 2) surrounded a Freetown hotel guarded by Nigerian troops after Nigeria launched a strike against the coup.
Hotel guests and Nigerian soldiers said the Nigerians were hopelessly outnumbered and the beachside hotel near the Sierra Leone military headquarters was about to be overrun. "It's a fight for survival," said one Nigerian officer.
In the city centre, Revolutionary United Front rebels and Sierra Leone soldiers secured strategic positions in anticipation of an attack, though Nigerian troops were nowhere to be seen.
Nigerian ships in the bay west of Freetown began a bombardment at daybreak on Monday (June 2)after talks between Nigerian and British diplomats and the coup leaders collapsed on Sunday night (June 1).
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