Going east

SWIFT defeat of the West Side Boys, a rag-tag group of rebels, by one of the world's most professional armies, should not have been unexpected but it still sent waves of relief through Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. The British army this week freed six of their colleagues, taken hostage on August 25th, and 16 Sierra Leoneans, also being held. One Briton and more than 20 rebels were killed in a dramatic dawn battle at a river-crossing 40km (25miles) from Freetown.