Foday Sankoh, the leader of Sierra Leone's rebel movement,...

Foday Sankoh, the leader of Sierra Leone's rebel movement, appeared in a Freetown courtroom charged with robbery and murder. It was the first time that he had been seen in public since his capture in May 2000.
Sankoh, whose attempt to control Sierra Leone's diamond wealth ignited one of West Africa's most brutal civil wars, announced to the courtroom: "This is Foday Sankoh. I am always Sankoh, and I will continue to be Sankoh."
The case was adjourned to March 11 without a plea being heard.
The charges arise from an incident in May 2000 when 20 anti-rebel demonstrators were shot outside Sankoh's home in Freetown. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The case will not affect any additional charges that may be brought against Sankoh by a United Nations war crimes tribunal. The war that he started in 1991 was declared over in January when United Nations peacekeepers disarmed 47,000 rebel fighters.