SIERRA LEONE: ANTI-REBEL LEADER SANKOH DEMONSTRATION

(8 May 2000) English/Nat

Rebel soldiers fired into a crowd of rock-throwing demonstrators on Monday as thousands of angry Sierra Leoneans marched on the home of rebel leader Foday Sankoh.

At least four people were killed and dozens were injured.

The clashes erupted as British troops began arriving to help evacuate British citizens if necessary.

Their deployment followed a week of clashes between rebels and U-N peacekeepers that have threatened
to throw the West African nation into chaos.

Demonstrators fled for their lives as guards of rebel leader Foday Sankoh fired on them.

Around five-thousand people had gathered for a rally to call for peace and to denounce the rebel Revolutionary United Front.

The group has attacked and kidnapped hundreds of U-N peacekeepers in recent days.

Monday's rally began peacefully.

But as the demonstrators began moving toward Sankoh's house, some started to throw large rocks and bricks.

The dozens of U-N peacekeepers guarding the house appeared completely overwhelmed by the crowd, pushing back against them and shouting ineffectively as the demonstrators advanced.

Rebel fighters standing behind the peacekeepers then fired through the U-N ranks, spraying the crowd with automatic weapons and at least one rocket-propelled grenade.

With the shots, the crowd began to flee in panic.

The U-N soldiers shouted "cease fire!" at the rebels and began firing into the air to get the crowds to leave.

Intermittent gunfire, including at least a handful of shots fired toward Sankoh's house from nearby streets, continued after the initial exchange, which lasted a few minutes.

Sankoh said the demonstrators provoked his guards into firing on them.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Provoking the situation, provoking us and it's unacceptable. This is not the practice of democracy. Why you can attack the premises of the man they call a peacemaker."
SUPER CAPTION: Foday Sankoh, RUF leader

During the war, Sankoh's rebels were responsible for many atrocities, including the gruesome mutilation of thousands of people.

The situation in Sierra Leone has become increasingly chaotic over the past week.

Rebels have been involved in repeated clashes with the U-N troops, shaking a peace process that ended Sierra Leone's eight-year civil war in July.

While those clashes have apparently ended, soldiers from the country's former junta government - which was allied with the R-U-F rebels - are openly calling for their rearmament to fight the R-U-F.

Truckloads of soldiers from Sierra Leone's army and the former junta could be seen driving toward Sankoh's house after the shooting.

An advance force of British paratroopers arrived in Sierra Leone on Monday by plane from neighbouring Senegal.

Five British ships, including a frigate and a helicopter carrier, were due to arrive in a few days.

The British forces were deployed to help evacuate British citizens if necessary.

The United States also has reduced the number of embassy staff and advised or helped citizens to leave.

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