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Tuesday, October 19, 1999
Albright meets limbless
Sierra Leone war victims
By George Gedda
By Associated Press
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - It was an emotion-filled moment for Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, lifting 3-year-old Mamuna Mansaray as hundreds of Sierra Leoneans looked on. All of them had been disfigured in a brutal civil war. A rebel soldier had shot off Mamuna's arm at pointblank range.
Albright, on the first day of a weeklong African tour, called the camp visit "heart-wrenching and stomach-turning."
She offered $55 million in U.S. support for efforts to uphold a shaky peace pact and urged the government and rebel leaders to end the fighting.
"There are people who had their limbs chopped off for no reason," Albright said. "It's hard to reach out and shake hands with somebody when you know they don't have a hand."
Albright came here intent on encouraging parties to the eight-year conflict to stick by a three-month-old peace agreement.
During her eight-hour visit in Freetown, Albright also met with President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and two rebel leaders.
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