Sierra Leone hostage talks stall

Six British soldiers and one Sierra Leonean remained in the hands of the renegade West Side Boys yesterday, in the heavily forested Occra hills, 50 miles outside the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown.

Six British soldiers and one Sierra Leonean remained in the hands of the renegade West Side Boys yesterday, in the heavily forested Occra hills, 50 miles outside the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown.

An Army spokesman, Lieutenant-Commander Tony Cramp, said yesterday's negotiations had stalled, but he remained upbeat about the prospects for a positive conclusion. "We remain confident that we will secure their release," he said.

British officials made "direct contact" with one of the hostages on Friday, Lt-Commander Cramp said, adding that the captives were "fine and in good spirits".

Lt-Commander Cramp denied UK press reports that Britain was sending more troops to help free the soldiers. "There are no extra troops being sent affecting the hostage issue," he insisted. But he added that British soldiers were due to arrive in Sierra Leone next week to replace existing troops involved in the training mission in the country.

The brutal and ill-disciplined West Side Boys captured 11 British soldiers and one Sierra Leonean soldier on 25 August in the Masiaka area, some 50 miles east of Freetown. On Wednesday, the captors freed five Britons. The soldiers are part of a British detachment helping to train a new Sierra Leone army.

The West Side Boys have made various demands for the release of the hostages, including a request for adequate food and medicine, but also seats in a new government and the release of imprisoned comrades. British officials said they had made no concessions to secure the release of the five.

On Friday, Johnny Paul Koroma, the leader of Sierra Leone's former military junta, to which the West Side Boys claim allegiance, urged them to release the remaining hostages and join the peace process, saying the junta was a thing of the past.