200 child soldiers kidnapped

FREETOWN, JAN 21: A group of 200 child soldiers who had been handed over to a Roman Catholic aid organisation for rehabilitation have been kidnapped by rebels, a spokesman for the organisation said today.

Father Teophilous Momoh, manager of Children Associated With War CAW, told Reuters that the 200 children had been seized by Revolutionary United Front RUF fighters on their way to the capital Freetown from the northern town of Kabala.

Five CAW officials and four soldiers from the Ecomog West African peacekeeping force, who had just handed over the children in Kabala, had also been taken prisoner, he said.

State radio also reported the kidnapping, saying the matter had been referred to Ecomog and the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone Unamsil, which is replacing the Nigerian-led Ecomog force under a peace deal signed in June 1999.