U.N. Bolsters Presence in Sierra Leone’s Capital

More peacekeepers arrived here Friday in Sierra Leone’s capital to reinforce against a possible rebel offensive on the city, where as many as 30,000 refugees have gathered to escape guerrilla attacks.

A few hundred more Jordanian soldiers arrived to help shore up the beleaguered peacekeeping force.

The fresh troops came on the same day that President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah paid homage to 19 people killed during a recent demonstration. He said the rebels who broke a peace deal and resumed fighting the government can “never be trusted.”

With the coffins of victims lined before him, Kabbah told more than 10,000 people at the national stadium that the Revolutionary United Front rebels had intended to overthrow the government when they fired Monday on unarmed demonstrators.

“Their deaths have revealed evidence of wickedness toward the government,” he said. “One lesson the events of last Monday have taught me is: One should never trust anybody called a rebel.”

The declaration was a sharp contrast to the conviviality on display in July when Kabbah and rebel leader Foday Sankoh signed a peace accord ending an eight-year civil war that left tens of thousands dead.

The accord, already imperiled when rebels took 500 peacekeepers hostage last week, was tattered further Monday when bodyguards for Sankoh began shooting into crowds of peace demonstrators in front of the rebel leader’s home.

A gun battle ensued between the rebels and government troops. Thirteen civilians and six soldiers were killed, some by gunshot and mortar wounds, others when they were trampled by the crowd. Sankoh disappeared, and his whereabouts remains unknown.

Despite calls from African countries to let United Nations peacekeepers use more force against the rebels, there was little indication Friday that the U.N. Security Council wanted to play a more active combat role in the conflict.

Council members have instead focused on reinforcing troops on the ground with better trained and equipped battalions who could help salvage the peace deal, European and American diplomats said.

Peacekeepers are authorized to use force to protect themselves and civilians but have refrained from any offensive attacks.

Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said the presence of British troops has partly been responsible for a “calming in the situation” in Sierra Leone over the last 24 hours.