World News 29-08-2000 Hopes Raised In Sierra Leone Hostage Crisis who: Eleven British soldiers what: Near resolution to hostage crisis where: Sierra Leone when: Yesterday snippet: "Hopes grew yesterday of an early resolution to the hostage crisis in Sierra Leone," reports The Times, "as the kidnapped British soldiers` commanding officer twice met the leader of their abductors." Following Friday`s capture of eleven British soldiers, representatives of The Royal Irish Regiment and Sierra Leonean Government yesterday met with the renegade West Side Boys at a UN peacekeeping base at Masiaka yesterday. The British soldiers were captured by the West Side Boys as a bargaining tool, says Alex Duval Smith in The Independent. They are seeking "fresh supplies and the release of their leader, Brigadier `Bomb Blast`," who is being held prisoner in the capital, Freetown. The soldiers last night sent out a radio message to their commanding officer to cinfirm that they were alright, reports The Mirror. And spokesman Lieutenant Commander Tony Cramp said optimistically: "We are confident we can secure their release through discussion with their captors." [... more]

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