UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Carolyn McAskie met with Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Issa Sesay in the northern town of Makeni during a four-day mission (20-23 April) to Sierra Leone, an OCHA official in Freetown told IRIN.
During their meeting on Saturday, Sesay said the RUF had some 50,000 Sierra Leonean returnees in areas under its control and that they lacked food and medicines, according to the OCHA official. McAskie also told a news conference in Freetown on Sunday that she asked Sesay to release all women and children in RUF hands as a demonstration of the group’s commitment to peace, the OCHA source added.
McAskie left Freetown on Monday for Liberia, the final leg of a three-nation West African tour which began in Guinea on 16 April and ends on 25 April. The main objective of her mission is to assess the political, military and humanitarian situation in the sub-region, particularly as it affects refugees and IDPs, OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article