Tuesday December 2, 2008.
10:00am: Court resumed and prosecution counsel Mr. Christopher Santora continued the examination of prosecution witness Dauda A Fornie, aka DAF. Continuing from where he stopped yesterday, the witness spoke about several things including the relationship between the RUF and Taylor’s NPFL, radio communications between the two groups, and RUF and SLA diamond activities in Tongo, among many others.
Counsel got the witness to make a brief recap on issues he spoke about yesterday in his testimony. When asked about a group called Kuwait Unit, the witness explained that a particular group called themselves so because they had attacked and captured a very rich ground in the Pujehun District. He said that since Kuwait is a rich country, they likened the mission to it. He said that this unit was headed by Rebel King. When asked to tell the court who the Black Gadaffa Group were fighting against, the witness said they were fighting againts the Sierra Leonean soldiers. He said that he saw General Dry Pepper and De Gbon visiting frontlines in Sierra Leone and rebel commanders shared their problems with them.
Testifying about radio communications, the witness said that when the war started originally, Sankoh only used mobile radio stations, which were meant to follow Sankoh whereever he went. He said that in late 1992, the RUF established its own communications system. He said that CO. Nyaa would propare radio messages and they would be transported by RUF fighters in Sierra Leone to NPFL commanders in Libeia.
Counsel asked the witness about where he was based during the AFRC coup. The witness said that he first went to Kenema where he worked as radio operator for Bockarie. He said he was later assigned to Tongo, where he said the RUF and AFRC had organized mining while there were also private mining activities. The witness referencd Cyborg Pit as a place in Tongo where rebel forcese forced civilians to mine.
The witness also spoke about the transport of arms and ammunition between Liberia and Sierra Leone. He said that he used to communicate with Mr. Taylor’s radio station, code named Tree Top, about the transport of such arms and ammunition. Counsel asked the witness about the routes used for the transport of such materials. The witness explained that the arms and ammunition moved from Gbarngha to Zorzor, then to Voinjama and to Foya before making way into Sierra Leone.
Explaining what the command structure in the RUF was, the witness said that Sam Bockarie and Benjamin Yeaten were the most senior commanders of the RUF. He said that Yeaten’s boss was the former leader of the revolution Mr. Taylor. Asked why he referred to Taylor as their former leader, he said because Bockarie used to report to Taylor, consult with him and he took orders from him. ASked how he knew all these, he said he was the contact person since he was the radio operator. He said that in 1998, he travelled to Monrovia with BOckarie and their delegation was received Yeaten. He said that when they went to Liberia, he was lodged at Yeaten’s house. He said Yeaten’s house was host to the radio set called Base One. He said when going back to Sierra Leone, they took along a truck load of ammunition which was used to rebel ECOMOG forces in 1999.
The witness continues his testimony tomorror. Court asdjourned the day.