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Kabbah's Role in the CDF Revealed At Special Court

Concord Times (Freetown)
NEWS
January 26, 2006
Posted to the web January 26, 2006

By Tanu Jalloh
Freetown
First accused in the ongoing Civil Defense Forces Trial at the Special Court
trial Chamber 1, Sam Hinga Norman who testified in his defense, Wednesday
revealed President Kabbah controlled the War Council in Conakry, Guinea, which
supported the Civil Defense Forces (CDF) in Sierra Leone.
"The then Nigerian head of state and chairman of Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), late Gen. Sani Abacha told President Kabbah and I,
through his High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Alhaji Abu Bakarr, that they
were prepared to support and reinstate the exiled Sierra Leone Peoples Party
(SLPP) government if that was the wishes of the people," he recounted.
Quoting President Kabbah's response, Norman recalled: "That is where we need
the support of the hunters in rejecting the military government of the Armed
Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC)," adding that there was an arrangement that
he (Norman) should join ECOMOG in Monrovia, Liberia for the coordination of the
Kamajors.
"President Kabbah told me he was going to announce my new appointment as
National Coordinator for CDF in addition to my being the Deputy Defense
Minister and Acting Internal Affairs Minister, which he did," he testified to
the Chamber and continued, "I later, on the instruction of President Kabbah,
traveled to Monrovia to meet with Nigerian ECOMOG General Abdul Wan Mohamed who
later introduced me to his boss, General Victor Malu on 17 June 1997.
I made a verbal report to President Kabbah, in my capacity as National
Coordinator and short guns, (between 500 to 5,000 pieces) and a huge quantity
of cartridges, oil, rice and cash in dollars were supplied to the hunters and
he expressed gratitude." Norman recounted that he later got a satellite
communication set sent by the then minister of Finance, James Jonah and
delivered by his deputy, Momoh Pujeh via ECOMOG to him at Base Zero where he
coordinated the CDF.

   

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