Renegade Sierra Leone troops hold 11 British soldiers

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (Reuters) -- British troops in Sierra Leone stepped up their efforts on Sunday to find 11 of their comrades captured by a group of renegade Sierra Leonean soldiers known as the West Side Boys.

"Intensive efforts are in progress to secure the safe return of the 11 British soldiers held by the West Side Boys," Capt. Joseph Price, a spokesman for the British army in Sierra Leone, told Reuters.

The British soldiers plus one Sierra Leonean guide went missing on Friday in an area where the West Side Boys have been active to the east of the capital Freetown.

Asked whether the British troops, in Sierra Leone to train a new national army, had been in contact with the West Side Boys, Price said: "Initial contact has been made early on and there is progress through other channels."

It was the first confirmation from the British side that the abductors were the West Side Boys. Price declined to give further details.

The West Side Boys are soldiers of the former, discredited Sierra Leonean army who claim allegiance to the military junta that ruled Sierra Leone in 1997-98.

When an agreement to end Sierra Leone's civil war fell apart in May, they sided first of all with a government alliance against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, but some of them then turned against the government.

Soldiers said to be well

A British defense ministry spokesman in London told Reuters on Saturday that a message had been received from one of the abducted soldiers, saying they were all in good health and are being well looked after.

However, at that point, he could not confirm reports in Freetown that the West Side Boys were holding the men.

A Sierra Leonean military source said: "The team of 12 was patrolling along the Freetown-Masiaka highway on to a small village called Forodugu where they were held by the armed West Side rebels and taken to their base."

British forces in Sierra Leone confirmed the soldiers went missing in the Masiaka-Forodugu area, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Freetown.

Britain's defense ministry said the patrol had been out of radio contact since 1545 GMT on Friday, adding that a helicopter search on Saturday morning had been fruitless.

A ministry official said on Saturday he was not aware of any contact having been made with the renegade Sierra Leonean troops. He said the ministry and British commanders in Sierra Leone were doing all they could to resolve the crisis quickly.

He would not comment on a report in Britain's News of the World tabloid on Sunday that a 12-strong squad from the Special Air Service (SAS) had been sent to rescue the soldiers.

About 400 British troops are in Sierra Leone training the new army and the military source said the abducted soldiers were attached to the training mission.

British soldiers intervened in May when the RUF rebels took hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers hostage. The U.N. hostages were later released and Britain withdrew most of its forces, except for the training detachment.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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