Foday Sankoh

Foday Sankoh was a Sierra Leonean guerrilla leader who founded and led the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a principal force in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

Revolutionary United Front: The Sierra Leonean rebel group that fought the government during the country’s civil war. Sankoh founded and commanded this movement, which became the main instrument of his political and military ambitions.
Blood diamond: A diamond mined in a conflict zone and traded to finance armed violence or political control. Control of diamond-producing areas supplied the RUF with revenue and leverage.
Lomé Peace Accord: The 1999 agreement intended to end Sierra Leone’s civil war by sharing power and disarming combatants. The accord granted Sankoh a prominent political role and amnesty, but fighting soon resumed.
Sam Bockarie: A senior RUF commander who led its forces after Sankoh’s capture in 1997. Bockarie maintained the RUF’s military campaign while Sankoh was imprisoned.
Sierra Leone Civil War: A conflict fought in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002 between government forces, rebel groups, and foreign interventions. Sankoh’s leadership of the RUF made him one of the war’s defining combatants.
Child soldiers in Sierra Leone: Children recruited or abducted by armed groups and used in Sierra Leone’s civil war. The RUF’s recruitment and use of children became one of the war’s most notorious practices.
Special Court for Sierra Leone: An internationalized tribunal established to prosecute those bearing the greatest responsibility for serious crimes in Sierra Leone’s war. Sankoh was indicted by the court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Issa Sesay: A senior RUF commander who became its interim leader near the end of Sierra Leone’s civil war. Sesay succeeded Sankoh as the RUF’s leading figure and later faced prosecution.
Joseph Saidu Momoh: Sierra Leone’s president from 1985 until 1992, when a military coup removed him during the civil war’s opening year. The RUF began its insurgency against Momoh’s government in 1991.
Revolutionary United Front insurgency: The RUF’s armed campaign against Sierra Leone’s government, beginning in 1991. This campaign was the means through which Sankoh sought to seize political power.

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History of Sierra LeoneBroader topic: His movement launched the insurgency that plunged the country into civil war.