M A I N   N E W S

35 Indian Army men detained

NEW DELHI, May 5 (PTI) — As many as 35 Indian Army personnel, including 8 officers of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Sierra Leone have been detained by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) with the ground situation in the strife-torn country continuing to be “grim”, army sources said tonight.

Sporadic firing was going in the worst-affected central sector comprising Makheni and Magvuraha areas, they said, adding although RUF leader Foday Sankoh has announced ceasefire, there was no tangible result on the ground.

An additional contingent of 23 Indian personnel has been detained in Quibo in the eastern sector, the sources said, quoting reports received here. These men were safe and in communication with their headquarters, they said.

With this, the number of Indian army personnel detained by the RUF include eight officers, one junior commissioned officer and 26 other ranks, the sources said, maintaining that a total of 360 UN peacekeepers from various countries have been disarmed and taken into custody by the RUF.

However, they said limited information was available regarding the rest of the 12 Indian soldiers being detained by the RUF since May 2.

The UN Security Council has issued its third appeal for the release of the peacekeepers, including the 35 Indians. So far, the RUF has released one Indian Army Major and a helicopter with Russian crew chartered by the UN and two civilians.

The President of Sierra Leone has agreed to intervene at the request of Force Commander Maj-Gen V.K. Jaitley and has announced that Sankoh would be held responsible for any further violence as the situation continued to be tense with RUF cadres concentrated in central and eastern sectors.

The force commander also approached the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations (UNDPKO) to intervene, while the Secretary-General’s spokesman has expressed outrage on attacks by RUF cadres on UNAMSIL personnel.

Freetown, (AFP): Former rebels of the RUF on Friday freed four UN helicopter crew and two passengers in eastern Sierra Leone, a UN spokesman said here.

A Russian official told Interfax in Moscow that the four helicopter pilots had been released, and that they were Russian.

According to the United Nations in New York, the four pilots were taken hostage along with a group of 30 UN mission members on Monday in the far east of the country and another 39 hostages are being held at Makeni, in the centre of the country.