Vol 42 No 5 | SIERRA LEONE The cost of Kabbah 9th March 2001 Putting off elections for six months is delaying the evil day That consummate survivor President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has done it again. He has persuaded parliament, if not the voters, that his increasingly unpopular government should be given another...
Vol 41 No 24 | SIERRA LEONE Bringing back the British 8th December 2000 Critically dependent on UN and British military support, President Kabbah's government is facing growing civilian opposition Desperation and nostalgia help explain why more than 5,000 Sierra Leoneans crowded in to the National Stadium in Freetown on 23 November to show their support for British...
Vol 41 No 14 | SIERRA LEONE Kabbah in court 7th July 2000 Belgium's Chatelet Investment Company is suing the government in the first such case in a local court. Its lawyers, Banda Thomas and Co., appeared before High Court Justice...
Vol 41 No 13 | LIBERIASIERRA LEONE Godfather to the rebels 23rd June 2000 Dealing with Charles Taylor is key to any peace settlement. The question is, how? The latest spate of sabre rattling between Monrovia and Freetown signals the final unravelling of the Sierra Leone peace accord signed in Lomé last July. The governments of...
Vol 41 No 12 | SIERRA LEONE Moving the mandate 9th June 2000 The credibility of the UN and British missions depends on the contest between around 25,000 Sierra Leonean fighters The future of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's government and of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (Unamsil) rests on a hastily constructed security pyramid. At its apex...
Vol 41 No 12 | SIERRA LEONE Kabbah, the survivor 9th June 2000 Sankoh's absence - even if temporary - boosts Kabbah but the soldiers manoevre The arrest and detention on 19 May of Corporal Foday Sankoh, leader of the Revolutionary United Front, strengthened President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's weak and too conciliatory government. Kabbah...
Vol 41 No 11 | SIERRA LEONE Mission leap 26th May 2000 Britain's military and diplomatic mission in Sierra Leone is leaping rather than creeping. Among members of parliament from the ruling Labour Party side (and their Liberal Democrat allies)...
Vol 41 No 10 | SIERRA LEONE The battle for Freetown 12th May 2000 A rebel takeover of the capital would be an irreversible defeat for UN peacekeeping and British policy The next few weeks will be critical for Sierra Leoneans and, more widely, for peacekeeping missions across Africa. Much will depend on the defence of Freetown mounted by...
Vol 41 No 7 | LIBERIASIERRA LEONE Radio silence 31st March 2000 President Charles Taylor's 15 March order closing down two independent radio stations - Swiss-funded Star Radio and the Catholic-run Radio Veritas - may be linked to embarrassing reports...
Vol 40 No 16 | SIERRA LEONE Problematic peace 6th August 1999 Charles Taylor's support is critical to end the war – the other problem is lack of finance As battle-hardened rebels saunter into Freetown, guns slung over their shoulders, Sierra Leoneans are arguing about the price of their hoped for peace. A month after the...