Between March and January , Sierra Leone experienced a dreadful civil war. The insurgents were aided by an "international brigade," 1 sponsored by the Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, 2 many of whom had fought in the Liberian civil war.
In addition, a number of socially alienated local groups opposed to the authoritarian and kleptocratic policies of the All Peoples Congress APC used Liberia as a launching pad to try to unseat the APC government of President Joseph Momoh. The RUF's initial demand was a return to democratic pluralism, but this demand changed after the APC was toppled by a military coup in April The young officers who overthrew Momoh believed that the rebels could be defeated with good leadership at the center.
However, as the conflict spread throughout the country, and as demand grew for a return to civilian rule, the National Provisional Revolutionary Council NPRC , as this junta was called, sought a settlement with the rebel forces. Before a settlement could be reached.
While Kabbah sought a peaceful settlement with the leadership of the RUF, not all the major provisions of the Abidjan Accord were implemented. In particular, Kabbah refused to "reward" the rebels with a place in the government of national unity. Meanwhile, an undisciplined and restive army continued to plague the Kabbah administration.
There were a number of reports of coup attempts, and by the time of the May coup which toppled the Kabbah government for the first time, several officers had been arrested and charged with treason. The junta, which had little or no support among Freetown's residents, encountered passive resistance from the civilian population, as well as strong opposition from the Kamajors and the Nigerian-led Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group ECOMOG , which was in Sierra Leone to help the government suppress the rebellion by pushing the junta and its allies out of the capital.
