Today's Story Line

Sierra Leone's government is documenting a case for ousting rebel leader-cum-government diamond minister Foday Sankoh. But what will that mean for the current, Western-brokered peace process?.

Security police with masks and submachine guns raided Media-Most, Russia's leading independent news organization. Some say it could be just a feud among the oligarchs, but others worry that Prime Minister Putin may be silencing his critics.

Faye Bowers Deputy world editor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB

* REVISITING SANKOH'S HOUSE: Monitor reporter Corinna Schuler returned to the house where she was nearly killed last Monday by rebels loyal to Foday Sankoh. "The two-story home now lies in bullet-riddled ruin," Corinna says. "Looters ripped down a huge metal gate, smashed in windows, stole every piece of furniture, turned on the taps, and left the home in a flooded mess.

"Glass crunches underfoot. Water runs down the stairs. Bottles of prescription drugs and hundreds of plastic-wrapped syringes lay strewn on the floor, evidence of the drug use that is reportedly common among Sankoh's rebel fighters.

"Upstairs - in an office with a sign on the door: RUF Confidential Office. OUT OF BOUNDS TO ALL - the floor is littered with ironies.A tattered document reads 'Office of the Leader - Lasting Peace in Sierra Leone.' A soaked photograph captures a beaming Sankoh standing arm-in-arm with UN officials. A pamphlet says 'Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.'

"There is even a plastic-covered copy of the original Lom Accord that was signed to seal a peace pact between Sankoh and the country's democratically elected president last July."

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