(8 Jan 1999) English/Nat
A top rebel commander rejected a proclaimed cease-fire today in Sierra Leone, warning that his forces would intensify their assault on the capital if he is not allowed to meet with his imprisoned leader soon.
Civilians continue to flee the attack by rebel gunmen on the capital of Freetown.
Earlier, the country's president reaffirmed his election pledge to secure peace.
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah has condemned the attacks, saying he and his imprisoned arch-rival, Foday Sankoh, have had discussions to bring about a ceasefire.
The forces from the Revolutionary United Front stunned the government and its allied Nigerian-led defence force on Wednesday when they battled their way into the city and seized control of the State House and a key police installation.
The situation in Sierra Leone remained tense on Thursday.
Witnesses of the capital's siege are being evacuated from Freetown aboard military helicopters.
They said the rebels were moving from house to house, demanding allegiance from civilians.
The homes of families that failed to do so were set ablaze.
This terrified woman was being evacuated.
UPSOUND: (English)
"I'm ready to wait, I'm not going anywhere."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop, local woman
As evacuees were getting ready to board the helicopter, one young member of the militia condemned the rebels as criminals.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"There too was fighting. So, the fighting is going on now seriously and we don't allow them to enter the State House. They are not in the State House, they are criminals."
SUPER CAPTION: "Devil", Kamajo militia man
His defiance stands firm in the face of the rebels' siege on the capital.
The guerillas stunned Sierra Leone's government and its allied West African defence force early on Wednesday when they rampaged through the capital.
As machine gun fire rattled in the capital, the insurgents raided homes to capture civilians.
Speaking with journalists at Freetown's main airport, President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah said the rebels had burned the city's university, its main hospital and the former British colonial State House building.
He vowed to continue his efforts to bring peace to this troubled West African country, as he promised in his election campaign.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Umpteen times from the day I was elected, even before I was elected, it was really on my campaign programme that I was going to bring about peace to Sierra Leone. And the day I was elected I said look I will go anywhere, talk to anybody."
SUPER CAPTION: Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean President
As the capital lay smoking, Kabbah said he and his jailed rival who is the insurgency's leader, Foday Sankoh, were talking about a possible ceasefire.
Kabbah was deposed in a coup in May 1997 by a military junta allied with the rebels, but soldiers from a West African intervention force restored him to power 10 months ago.
Since then, the insurgents have been rebuilding, strengthened by defections from Sierra Leone's military and mercenaries from Liberia helping their cause.
They launched a renewed offensive in December.
Their only stated goals are to oust Kabbah, who they accuse of corruption, and to secure the release of Sankoh, a former photographer who claims supernatural powers.
Freetown International Airport lies deserted, as elsewhere in the city insurgents set eastern areas ablaze and dragged residents from their homes.
Sierra Leone's Finance Minister accused the government in neighbouring Liberia of the assault in which the rebels battled their way into the capital.
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