Editing Sierra Leone (section)

==== Kabbah's tenure: government, "dawn of a new republic", the AFRC and end of the Civil War (1996–2007) ====
Following the 1995 National Consultative Conference at the Bintumani Hotel in Freetown, dubbed "Bintumani I", which was a Strasser-led initiative, another National Consultative Conference at the same Bintumani Hotel in Freetown, dubbed "Bintumani II", was initiated by the Bio administration that involved both national and international stakeholders, in an effort to find a viable solution to the issues plaguing the country.<ref name="Kandeh">Kandeh, J. D. (September, 1998), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/524828 "Transition without Rupture: Sierra Leone's Transfer Election of 1996"]. ''[[African Studies Review]]''
Flight. 41, No. 2 (September 1998), pp. 91–111. [[Cambridge University Press]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/524828 Archived]. Retrieved October 25, 2021.</ref> "''Peace before Elections vs Elections before Peace''" became a key debate topic and this quickly became a point of national discussion. The discussions eventually concluded with key stakeholders, including Bio's administration and the UN, agreeing that while efforts in finding a peaceful solution to ending the war should continue, a general election should be held as soon as possible.<ref name="Kandeh" /> Bio handed power over to Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP, after the conclusion of elections in early 1996 which Kabbah won. After taking over, President Kabbah immediately opened [[dialogue]] with the RUF and invited their leader Foday Sankoh for peace negotiations.<ref>University of Central Arkansas. [https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa-region/sierra-leone-1961-present/ 41. Sierra Leone (1961-Present)]. [https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa-region/sierra-leone-1961-present/ Archived]. Retrieved 22 October 2021.</ref>

On 25 May 1997, 17 soldiers in the Sierra Leone army led by Corporal Tamba Gborie, loyal to the detained Major [[Johnny Paul Koroma]], launched a military coup which sent President Kabbah into exile in Guinea and they established the [[Armed Forces Revolutionary Council]] (AFRC). Corporal Gborie quickly went to the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Services headquarters in New England, Freetown to announce the coup to a shocked nation and to alert all soldiers across the country to report for guard duty. The soldiers immediately released Koroma from prison and installed him as their chairman and Head of State.

Koroma suspended the constitution, banned demonstrations, shut down all private radio stations in the country and invited the RUF to join the new junta government, with its leader Foday Sankoh as the Vice-Chairman of the new AFRC-RUF coalition junta government. Within days, Freetown was overwhelmed by the presence of the RUF combatants. The Kamajors, a group of traditional fighters mostly from the Mende ethnic group under the command of deputy [[Defence Minister]] [[Samuel Hinga Norman]], remained loyal to President Kabbah and defended the Southern part of Sierra Leone from the soldiers.

After nine months in office, the junta was overthrown by the Nigerian-led [[ECOMOG]] forces, and the democratically elected government of president Kabbah was reinstated in February 1998. On 19 October 1998, 24 soldiers in the Sierra Leone army—including Gborie, Brigadier Hassan Karim Conteh, Colonel Samuel Francis Koroma, Major Kula Samba and Colonel Abdul Karim Sesay—were executed by firing squad after they were convicted in a [[court martial]] in Freetown, some for orchestrating the 1997 coup that overthrew President Kabbah and others for failure to reverse the mutiny.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr51/019/1998/en/|title= Campaigns {{!}} Sierra Leone: Imminent execution / death penalty / legal concern |publisher=Amnesty International|website= Amnesty.org |date= 11 October 1998|access-date= 26 February 2013}}</ref>

In October 1999, the United Nations agreed to send [[peacekeeping|peacekeepers]] to help restore order and disarm the rebels. The first of the 6,000-member force began arriving in December, and the [[UN Security Council]] voted in February 2000 to increase the force to 11,000, and later to 13,000. But in May, when nearly all [[Nigeria]]n forces had left and UN forces were trying to disarm the RUF in eastern Sierra Leone, [[Foday Sankoh|Sankoh]]'s forces clashed with the UN troops, and some 500 peacekeepers were taken [[hostage]] as the peace accord effectively collapsed. The hostage crisis resulted in more fighting between the RUF and the government as UN troops launched [[Operation Khukri]] to end the siege.

The situation in the country deteriorated to such an extent that British troops were deployed in [[Operation Palliser]], originally simply to evacuate foreign nationals. However, the British exceeded their original mandate and took full military action to finally defeat the rebels and restore order. The British were the catalyst for the ceasefire that ended the civil war. Elements of the [[British Army]], together with administrators and politicians, remained after withdrawal to help train the armed forces, improve the infrastructure of the country and administer financial and material aid. [[Tony Blair]], the Prime Minister of Britain at the time, is regarded as a hero by the people of Sierra Leone.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Alex|last= Renton|date=2010-04-17|title=Sierra Leone: one place where Tony Blair remains an unquestioned hero|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/18/sierra-leone-international-aid-blair|access-date=2021-02-08|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

Between 1991 and 2001, about [[List of wars by death toll|50,000 people were killed]] in Sierra Leone's civil war. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced from their homes and many became refugees in [[Guinea]] and [[Liberia]]. In 2001, UN forces moved into rebel-held areas and began to disarm rebel soldiers. By January 2002, the war was declared over. In May 2002, [[Ahmad Tejan Kabbah|Kabbah]] was re-elected president by a landslide. By 2004, the disarmament process was complete. Also in 2004, a UN-backed [[war crime]]s court began holding trials of senior leaders from both sides of the war. In December 2005, UN peacekeeping forces pulled out of Sierra Leone.