Families of Sierra Leone rebels to urge release of British hostages

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (Reuters) -- Relatives of the maverick West Side Boys holding six British soldiers hostage in Sierra Leone plan a fresh visit to their jungle base to urge them to free the captives, their former leader said on Sunday.

MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Sierra Leone

Johnny Paul Koroma, the former military ruler to whom the renegade former soldiers once pledged allegiance, said that the family members would return to their base in the Occra Hills about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital of Freetown on Monday.

Britain said on Saturday that fresh British soldiers were expected in Freetown this week as part of a routine rotation, but rejected suggestions that it was sending in special forces to free the six Britons and a Sierra Leonean seized with them.

"The relatives will leave Freetown tomorrow," Koroma told Reuters, adding that the West Side Boys had apparently not honored a pledge to free the six during the weekend.

The group seized 11 British soldiers and one Sierra Leonean on August 25.

Relatives of the West Side Boys visited their Occra Hills camp last Tuesday. The West Side Boys freed five of the Britons on Wednesday.

The relatives returned on Thursday and won what they thought was a pledge of weekend releases.

A British army spokesman said in Freetown on Sunday that the six soldiers still in captivity were not being mistreated and talks with their captors were continuing.

Koroma commanded the West Side Boys as head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, which toppled elected President Ahmad Team Kabbah in 1997 and ruled until a West African intervention force reinstated Kabbah in 1998.

Koroma rallied to Kabbah's government under a 1999 peace deal but his influence over the former soldiers has since waned.

Britain sent troops and warships in May, when Revolutionary United Front rebels took up arms again in defiance of a 1999 peace deal and took U.N. peacekeepers hostage.

At that time, the West Side Boys fought for the government.

The British force evacuated foreign nationals who wanted to leave and helped the ill-prepared U.N. force regain control.

The rebels freed their hostages and Britain withdrew the bulk of its force, leaving behind about 200 men to train a new Sierra Leone army. The hostages are part of that force.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For more Africa news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

See related sites about Africa

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.