The top loyalist and rebel defendants being tried for war crimes in Sierra Leone were both flown abroad for medical treatment Jan. 17 just weeks before the verdicts are due. Stephen Rapp, who took over on Jan. 1 as chief prosecutor for the UN-backed tribunal trying the men, told reporters that former Defense Minister Sam Hinga Norman and ex-rebel commander Issa Sesay had been flown to Dakar, Senegal. (Reuters).