FREETOWN, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - At least 20 people have died from cholera in the past two weeks in poverty-stricken west African country of Sierra Leone, a government health official said Thursday.

Alhassan Sesay, director of disease prevention and control in the ministry of health, said 15 of the deaths were recorded in the northern district of Kambia, near the border with Guinea, while five were registered in a village on the outskirts of the capital Freetown.

FREETOWN, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leone on Wednesday ordered all civilians in possession of weapons to hand them over within a fortnight.

'All persons in possession of firearms including automatic and semi-automatic rifles, pistols, shotguns and ammunition explosives who are not military or police officials ... should surrender them within two weeks,' police chief Brima Acha Kamara said.

FREETOWN, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Three former Sierra Leonean rebel chiefs will call in nearly 300 defence witnesses when their war crimes trial resumes next week, a court heard on Wednesday.

Issa Hassan Sesay, 37, Morris Kallon, 43, and Augustine Gbao, 59, of the notorious Revolutionary United Front rebel group are on trial at a UN-backed tribunal here for atrocities during the savage 10-year war which ended in 2001.

FREETOWN, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Hundreds of hip-swinging female supporters of Sierra Leone's new ruling party danced under drizzling rains on Tuesday outside the parliament building as newly elected lawmakers were sworn in.

Scores of opposition supporters of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) also gathered nearby, waving placards in support of their own deputies also taking oath of office.

FREETOWN, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - The Sierra Leone patrol navy said on Monday it had foiled an attempted attack by eight armed Guinean pirates on two licensed Chinese fishing trawlers on its waters.

Navy sub-lieutenant Joseph Samura said the Guineans, aboard a pirate boat, two of them in military garb, had wanted to steal the two fishing vessels in the country's northwestern exclusive territorial waters near Guinea.

'We searched the (pirates') fibre boat and found two rifles and a quantity of magazines, fully loaded,' Samura told AFP.

OUAGADOUGOU, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leone's new President Ernest Bai Koroma on Friday embarked on a three-nation tour aimed at boosting ties in the region on his first official trip abroad since taking office.

His talks with the leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Burkina Faso Faso centred on peace, regional security and cooperation.

On the last leg of his tour in Burkina Faso Faso he held talks with President Blaise Compaore, who holds the rotating presidency of regional bloc ECOWAS.

MONROVIA, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leone's new President Ernest Bai Koroma on Friday set off on his first official trip abroad since taking office to visit three neighbouring states in a bid to boost ties.

Talks with leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Burkina Faso Faso are centred on regional security and bilateral cooperation, officials said.

Koroma, at the head of a 17-member delegation of mainly his senior party officials, landed at Liberia's Roberts International Airport aboard a United Nations plane from nearby Guinea.

FREETOWN, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Five days after the election of an opposition politician as Sierra Leone's new president, the country's military chief warned the armed forces not to try to topple the new leadership.

General Sam Mboma asked hundreds of troops from all ranks in the capital Freetown to switch their allegiance to the new political leaders.

'We have now changed government through democratic elections, therefore our focus on the past Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is gone,' General Mboma told the soldiers.

FREETOWN, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leone's new leader Ernest Bai Koroma is keen to have a national unity government with officials of the outgoing administration, a top official of the ECOWAS regional bloc said on Thursday.

'Koroma pledged to work for a government of national unity to fulfil the task of economic revival and consolidation of democracy,' Mohamed Ibn Chambas, commission chief of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) told state radio after talks with Koroma in Freetown.

FREETOWN, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Prosecutors on Wednesday urged a UN-backed tribunal to hand 30-year sentences to two leaders of a pro-government militia for atrocities committed during Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war.

'I am asking for a sentence of 30 years for each. This will reflect the gravity of the crimes committed,' prosecutor Joseph Kamara told the court.

Allieu Kondewa and Moinina Fofana led the Civil Defence Forces (CDF), a paramilitary force which recruited traditional Kamajor hunters to fight rebel forces during the 1991-2001 conflict.

FREETOWN, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - A mob stormed the headquarters of Sierra Leone's former ruling party and two people were electrocuted to death in a looting spree, witnesses said Tuesday.

Police said they foiled a bid to steal dozens of government cars but that fridges, TV sets, electricity generators and office equipment were carted away from the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) offices in central Freetown.

Police spokesman Chris Charley confirmed two deaths which he said 'were not as a result of police actions' and added that several people had been arrested.

FREETOWN, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - The opposition win in Sierra Leone's presidential elections and the smooth handover of power show that democracy there is maturing, but huge challenges still lie ahead, analysts said.

After capturing 54.6 percent of the votes in a run-off, Ernest Bai Koroma, took office late Monday after only the second election since the end of a savage 10-year civil war that ended in 2001 with 120,000 people dead.

FREETOWN, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Ernest Bai Koroma took oath Monday as Sierra Leone's new president after winning a tense runoff vote and vowed to wipe out graft and heal deep wounds in the impoverished war-scarred west African nation.

Koroma, 53, an opposition candidate who defeated outgoing vice president Solomon Berewa, also pledged to improve the lives of Sierra Leoneans who live in the world's second poorest country despite its vast diamond riches.

FREETOWN, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Ernest Bai Koroma was sworn in as Sierra Leone's new president on Monday for the next five years after winning a tense runoff vote.

Koroma, an opposition candidate who defeated the outgoing vice president to become the war-scarred west African country's new leader, pledged to 'do right to all manner of people without fear or favour.'

He was declared winner after he scooped 54.6 percent of the votes ahead of Vice President Solomon Berewa, who gained 45.4 percent.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday congratulated Sierra Leone's opposition leader Ernest Koroma on his win in the recent presidential runoff election.

'The Secretary-General extends his warm congratulations to Mr Koroma and commends all Sierra Leonean parties and their supporters for exercising patience and restraint during the tallying of the votes,' his press office said.

FREETOWN, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leone's opposition leader Ernest Koroma has won a tense presidential run-off in the war-scarred west African nation, the national poll body said Monday announcing final results.

The All People's Congress (APC) leader garnered 54.6 percent of the vote while outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa from the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) got 45.4 percent, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced.

FREETOWN, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Ernest Bai Koroma, Sierra Leone's newly elected president, has vowed to radically change the country's image as a poorly governed and poverty-stricken nation recovering from a brutal civil war.

The 53-year-old Koroma stormed to victory with 54.6 percent of the vote against ruling party candidate and outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa, who garnered 45.6 percent.

He is seen as a fresh face who is nonetheless surrounded by some of the same officials from a party whose past is notorious for systemic corruption and dictatorship.

FREETOWN, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - With three quarters of preliminary results from Sierra Leone's presidential run-off in, the ruling party is seeking to bar the election body from publishing further results, court officials and the opposition said Sunday.

'An injuction has been filed by the SLPP (Sierra Leone People's Party) to refrain the National Electoral Commission (NEC) from announcing further progress reports from the run-off elections,' a High Court official told AFP.

FREETOWN, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leone opposition candidate Ernest Koroma widened his lead Thursday over outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa in a run-off to choose a new president for the war-scarred west African nation, official figures showed.

With three quarters of the 6,157 polling stations reporting, Koroma had 60 percent of the votes cast against 40 percent for ruling party candidate Berewa, according to figures released by the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

FREETOWN, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leone's opposition leader Ernest Koroma maintained his lead over his rival in presidential elections, outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa, with ballots from half of the country's polling station counted.

Preliminary results issued by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) on Wednesday showed Koroma ahead with 58.5 percent of the votes.

FREETOWN, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - Ballots counted in Sierra Leone's presidential run-off indicated a strong lead Tuesday for opposition leader Ernest Koroma over his rival, outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa.

Preliminary results showed Koroma ahead in nine out of the 14 districts, while Berewa was leading in only five, all located in the southern part of the country, where his People's Sierra Leone party (SLPP) is based.

With 2,324 of the 6,157 polling stations having reported, Koroma had received 441,908 votes, or 60.2 percent, to Berewa's 291,690, or 39.7 percent.

FREETOWN, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - Ballots counted in Sierra Leone's presidential run-off indicated a strong early lead Tuesday for opposition leader Ernest Koroma over his rival, outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa.

The National Electoral Commission's first early preliminary results issued late Monday showed Koroma with a wide 29-percent point lead, culled from a fifth of the official returns.

FREETOWN, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Opposition candidate Ernest Koroma has taken an early lead in Sierra Leone's presidential run-off, capturing two thirds of the ballots counted so far from the weekend vote, results showed Monday.

With slightly over a fifth of the votes tallied, Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) has 64.3 percent of the vote, according to results from the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

His rival, outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), has 35.7 percent.

FREETOWN, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Opposition candidate Ernest Koroma has taken an early lead in Sierra Leone's presidential run-off, capturing two thirds of the ballots counted so far from the weekend vote, results showed Monday.

With slightly over a fifth of the votes tallied, Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) has 64.3 percent of the vote, according to results from the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

His rival, outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), has 35.7 percent.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday hailed the 'generally orderly and peaceful' presidential runoff election in Sierra Leone and urged the rival parties to show restraint during the vote-counting.

'The secretary general is pleased to note that the second round of the presidential election ... took place in a generally orderly and peaceful atmosphere, in spite of the tensions and violence that marred the campaign period,' his press office said in a statement.

FREETOWN, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - The two candidates in Sierra Leone's presidential race both claimed an early lead on Monday as the war-scarred west African country awaited official results from the weekend vote.

According to partial unofficial results from more than a third of polling stations, opposition candidate Ernest Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) was ahead of his rival, outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

Each party expressed confidence that its man was heading for the country's top job.

FREETOWN, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Parties of the two candidates in Sierra's Leone's presidential race both claimed an early lead on Monday as the poor and war-scarred west African country awaited official results from Saturday's vote.

According to partial unofficial results from more than a third of polling stations, opposition candidate Ernest Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) was ahead of his rival, outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

FREETOWN, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Early unofficial results Sunday from Sierra Leone's presidential runoff election showed the ruling party and opposition candidates were running neck and neck to lead the impoverished west African country.

Opposition leader Ernest Koroma was running slightly ahead of outgoing vice president Solomon Berewa, according to a radio report based on counts from 40 percent of the polling stations.

FREETOWN, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Voters in Sierra Leone were awaiting the result Sunday of a closely-fought presidential run-off in the impoverished west African country, which is still recovering from a brutal civil war.

Unofficial results released on radio showed opposition leader Ernest Koroma on 52 percent, slightly ahead of outgoing vice president Solomon Berewa with 48 percent based on counts from one fifth of polling stations.

Voting on Saturday passed off peacefully but under tight security.

FREETOWN, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Voters in Sierra Leone were waiting for results Sunday from elections to pick a new president for the impoverished west African country, still recovering from a brutal civil war.

Outgoing vice president Solomon Berewa, 69, faced a tight race against 53-year-old opposition leader Ernest Koroma in Saturday's vote.

Polling passed off largely peacefully, but heavily armed police and military patrolled the streets.

FREETOWN, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Vote counting was underway Sunday in Sierra Leone's presidential runoff election that was dogged by allegations of foul play and raised tension in the west African country still recovering from a brutal civil war.

Outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa, 69, faced a tight race against 53-year-old opposition leader Ernest Koroma in Saturday's election.

After polling passed off largely peacefully, armed police and military set up road blocks in the capital Freetown and the second largest southern city of Bo, stopping and searching cars.

FREETOWN, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - Voters in Sierra Leone went to the polls Saturday in a presidential run-off dogged by allegations of foul play in this west African country recovering from a brutal civil war.

Outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa, 69, faced a tight race against 53-year-old opposition leader Ernest Koroma, with Sierra Leone looking to turn the page after more than a decade of conflict fuelled by 'blood diamonds.'

FREETOWN, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - Polling ended Saturday in Sierra Leone's tightly contested presidential run-off amid allegations of foul play in the west African country's second polls since the end of a brutal civil war.

Outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa, 69, was pitted against 53-year-old opposition leader Ernest Koroma, 53, with Sierra Leone looking to turn the page after more than a decade of conflict fuelled by 'blood diamonds'.

Both candidates complained Saturday that their party workers were being harassed by police.

FREETOWN, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - The two candidates contesting Sierra Leone's crunch presidential run-off on Saturday alleged intimidation and foul play which they warned could affect the credibility of the much-watched polls.

Outgoing Vice President Solomon Berewa, 69, who is facing a tight contest against opposition leader Ernest Koroma, 53, accused police of manhandling his party agents during Saturday's deciding vote.

FREETOWN, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - Voters in Sierra Leone went to the polls Saturday in presidential elections following an inconclusive first round last month in this west African country recovering from a brutal civil war.

Dozens were wounded in violent inter-party clashes during the run-up to the vote in the former British colony in west Africa, but poll monitors said the second round of voting was more orderly than in the first.

FREETOWN, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - 'I am voting for nothing but change. I don't think there are people anywhere else suffering as much as here in Sierra Leone, said Phillip Alieu Saturday as the war-scarred nation held a key presidential run off.

Alieu echoed the sentiments of many people in the west African country which emerged only six years ago from a brutal decade-long civil war that was one of the bloodiest in modern history.

FREETOWN, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - Voters in Sierra Leone went to the polls Saturday in presidential elections following an inconclusive first round last month in this west African country recovering from a brutal civil war.

Dozens of people were wounded in violent inter-party clashes during the electoral campaign in the former British colony on the coast of West Africa, but observers said that second round voting was more orderly than in the previous round.

Security was high as the 6,150 polling stations opened at 7:00 am (0700 GMT), scheduled to close 10 hours later.

FREETOWN, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leoneans go the polls on Saturday in what is expected to be a close presidential election runoff in the west Africa country that emerged from a brutal civil war only six years ago.

Political tensions have been rising since the results of the first round were announced two weeks ago showing ruling party candidate Vice President Solomon Berewa trailing second to opposition politician Ernest Koroma.

Par by Susan Njanji

BO (Sierra Leone), 7 sept 2007 (AFP) - Sierra Leoneans on Saturday vote in a tight presidential run-off seen to test the west African country's ability to cement peace following the end of one of the most brutal civil wars in modern times.

The election pits candidates from the parties that have ruled the country the longest: the opposition All People's Congress (APC)'s leader Ernest Koroma and Vice President Solomon Berewa from the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).