The former rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, made a dramatic appearance before the High Court of Sierra Leone on Wednesday, before his trial for murder was adjourned.

Mr Sankoh, dressed in a flowing gown and wearing matted hair was quiet said the recent elections, which saw Ahmad Tejan Kabbah re-elected as president, a "game".

I am the elections, I am the leader here

Foday Sankoh

His children wept and wailed as they attended the hearing, crying "Daddy, Daddy".

Mr Sankoh is being tried for the killing of more than 20 anti-rebel demonstrators in May 2000.

The BBC West Africa correspondent, Mark Doyle, says that for most Sierra Leoneans, the trial marks the end of the civil war, characterised by widespread atrocities against civilians, including amputations, mainly by the rebels.

'Inner God'

The High Court was packed for Mr Sankoh's second hearing since his trial began in March.

The BBC's Lansana Fofana in Freetown says that many in the crowd were curious and wanted to get a glimpse of Mr Sankoh.

Mr Sankoh describes himself as "the inner God"

But he adds the presence of three of his children, including his youngest, a teenager who wept openly and kissed Mr Sankoh as he was being taken away by guards, caused bitterness among the crowd who want to see the former leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) tried.

Mr Sankoh's daughter told our correspondent that she wanted to have a one-to-one conversation with her father, that she felt sorry for him.

Mr Sankoh, as he was being escorted back to his high-security prison, commented on his trial and the political process in Sierra Leone.

He described himself as "the inner God" and said it was the "same old game", that there was "no need to worry".

Unregistered

"Elections? I am the elections, I am the leader here," he said.

"The elections were a game," he added.

Mr Sankoh was barred from standing because he had not registered to vote while he was in prison.

Pallo Bangura stood on behalf of the political reincarnation of his Revolutionary United Front movement but did not gain many votes and the RUFP did not win a single seat in parliament.

Kabbah was re-elected last month

The trial of Mr Sankoh and 49 of his supporters was adjourned to 10 July to allow his Nigerian-born lawyer to obtain clearance from the bar association to practise in Sierra Leone.

The lawyer, Edo Okanya, was warned by the court to stop making statements to the press or else he would risk being charged with contempt of court.

Mr Okanya has spoken repeatedly of his resolve to fight his client's case to the end.

If found guilty, Mr Sankoh faces the death penalty.

He was sentenced to death for treason in 1998, but was pardoned a year later, when the RUF signed a peace accord granting amnesty to the rebels for the atrocities they committed during the war.

The peace was shattered in May 2000 when rebels took hundreds of United Nations soldiers hostage, triggering Mr Sankoh's arrest.

Mr Sankoh also faces a separate trial for war crimes by a special tribunal, set up by the UN.

The body, which is still being set up, will be a cross between a Bosnian-style war crimes tribunal and a local court.