Sierra Leone's president said rebel leader, Mr Foday Sankoh, was under investigation over the shooting of demonstrators outside his house and might face trial, but he urged Mr Sankoh's fighters to restart the peace process.
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah said the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel movement was under investigation for its actions since a peace deal was signed in Lome in July 1999. Mr Kabbah said that Mr Sankoh was under investigation for the events of May 8th, when 20 people were killed after Mr Sankoh's bodyguards opened fire on peace demonstrators outside his home.
Britain - the former colonial power - insisted that Mr Sankoh must play no further role in the government of Sierra Leone.
The Defence Minister, Mr Geoff Hoon, told the BBC it was a matter for the Freetown government to decide what should happen to the captured rebel leader.
Another 54 hostages - United Nations peacekeepers, three of them wounded - have been released by the rebels. More are expected to be free today, UN officials said last night. About 280 are now still unaccounted for. Mr Felix Downes-Thomas, the UN Secretary General's special representative in Liberia, said the peacekeepers were brought to Monrovia by helicopter and then left for Freetown.