NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (CWNews.com) - Sierra Leone rebels are prepared to ask for a cease-fire after a West African peacekeeping force drove them from the capital Freetown following a month of fight, according to UN officials on Thursday.

      UN special envoy Francis Okelo said he had been contacted by the rebel Revolutionary United Front who planned to begin the cease-fire on Monday. The rebels also demanded to speak to their imprisoned leader, Foday Sankoh, and insisted on his release next week.

      Meanwhile, the Rome-based MISNA missionary news agency said rebels told Catholic officials that Archbishop Joseph Ganda of Freetown, who was kidnapped this week, and Italian missionary Father Mario Geurra, who was kidnapped in November, could be released in exchange for a cease-fire.