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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Liberia Says Indicted Warlord Wounded in Clash |
| 2003-05-06 |
| Sam Bockarie, a notorious West African warlord indicted by a U.N.-backed war crimes court, has been seriously wounded in a shootout with Liberian forces, Liberia's government said on Tuesday. The former hairdresser, diamond-miner and disco dance champion who became a rebel commander in his native Sierra Leone was recently reported to be leading a band of fighters helping rebels in Ivory Coast. My god, does Hollywood know about this guy? But the special court on war crimes in Sierra Leone last week said that Bockarie was in Liberia, where he had long-standing links, and urged President Charles Taylor to hand him over for trial. Liberia's Information Ministry said in a statement that Bockarie was spotted crossing into Liberia from Ivory Coast early on Tuesday. "He had a really good haircut, so we recognized him right away" "An attempt by Liberian government forces to arrest him was met with stiff resistance and there were serious casualties on both sides," the statement said. "There are reports that Sam Bockarie was seriously wounded in the shootout." A hairdressing, diamond-mining, disco-dancing rebel commander. It's a cross of Shampoo-King Salomon's Mines-Saturday Night Fever-Wild Geese! Quick, somebody see if we can get Cuba Gooding, Jr.! |
| Posted by:Steve |