Rawlings hosts coup leader

SIERRA LEONEAN JUNTA LEADER VISITS ACCRA

Sierra Leone's new leader, Brigadier Julius Bio, arrived in Accra on Thursday for talks with President Jerry Rawlings, accompanied by two members of the ruling council and the foreign minister. They were met on arrival by Rawlings, cabinet ministers and some members of the diplomatic corps. Bio was given a two-gun salute and he then inspected a guard of honor formed by a detachment of the Ghana Air Force. Ghana's Deputy Foreign Minister Muhammed Ibn Chambas told AFP the talks between the two leaders will focus on the possibility of Ghana granting asylum to Captain Valentine Strasser, the deposed Sierra Leonean head of state. Brigadier Bio, who was Strasser's second-in-command, wrested power from him in a palace coup last week. Strasser was accused of preparing to rig planned democratic elections in Sierra Leone on his own behalf.

The Sierra Leoneans, who were brought in by the Ghanaian presidential jet, included Lieutenant-Colonel Karefah Karbo and Colonel A.B. Sesay, members of the presidential council, and Foreign Minister Melvin Chalobah. The visitors and their hosts then drove off to the Castle for closed door discussions. Bio was scheduled to leave later in the day for Freetown. (Source: AFP, Jan. 25, 1996)