Escalation in Sierra Leone
Oliver Martin

Tensions in the small African nation of Sierra Leone heated up this week after pro-government troops attempted to re-take the capital city of Freetown. The government troops are supported by the West African intervention force known as ECOMOG. This force is led by Nigeria and made up of troops from around the West African coast.

The civil war in Sierra Leone has raged since 1991, and has forced the country into a state of anarchy. The central authority, led by President Ahmed Tejan Kabbahís democratically elected government has had to flee to neighboring Guinea. The instability in Sierra Leone has further caused a de-stabilization in the region.

As reported by Robert Kaplan of the Atlantic Monthly, "West Africa is becoming the symbol of worldwide demographic, environmental and societal stress, in which criminal anarchy emerges as the real ëstrategicí danger. Disease, overpopulation, unprovoked crime, scarcity of resources, refugee migrations", all add to the problems.

The country, in essence, is an ungovernable territory. The bloody civil war has caused the population of Freetown to balloon, with hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing the dangerous countryside. The rebel army, founded by Foday Sankoh, has been fighting for control of the country. He was captured earlier this year and was put on trial, facing charges of treason and mass murder. Ever since his conviction in October, he has been held at a secret location. His Revolutionary United Front has been led in his absence by General Sam Bockarie.

The United Nations has been working with both sides to initiate an end to the hostilities. After talks with the imprisoned Sankoh and ECOMOG commanders, a tentative cease-fire agreement was reached last week. Francis Okelo, UN spokesperson, said during the three hour talks, Mr. Sankoh was 100-per-cent committed to peace. He is willing to order a cease-fire and he recognizes the legitimacy of President Kabbah.

Sankoh however, wants the UN and President Kabbah to officially recognize the rebel movement. This has stalled all peace talks. They have been accused by aid officials and locals of mass atrocities against unarmed villagers. Sankoh denies all these charges.

In the field, however, Bockarie was not willing to accept the terms. Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location in Sierra Leone, Martin Coker, an aid to the rebel commander, said any cease-fire would begin on Monday and not Saturday, the date reached during the UN sponsored talks. He further stated the cease-fire would only last for seven days to allow for civilians to leave the combat area.

Aid agencies operating in the region have reported the residents of Freetown are now facing starvation and this could intensify if hostilities go unchecked. Freetown has been cut off from water, fresh food supplies and electricity for almost nine days.

Kris Janowski, a UN refugee spokesperson in Geneva, said, ìthe situation is quite terrifying for civilians, a humanitarian disaster is looming in the capital unless some kind of cease-fire is arranged and humanitarian supplies can be brought in.

People are holed up, and are not in a position to move out of their homes, let alone flee the capital.

With government and ECOMOG troops attempting to reach the rebel held capital and bring about some sort of stability in the region after the failure of the UN sponsored cease-fire, the situation in Sierra Leoneís countryside looked like a re-creation of no-man's land in WW1.

Witnesses fleeing the area said bodies littered the streets of eastern Freetown and rebels were burning houses and cars as they retreated before the West African intervention force. It seems that the capital will now be taken by ECOMOG, but at a price very high for the local civilian population.