The high court in Sierra Leone has sentenced the rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, to death for supporting last year's military coup.

The judge, sentencing Sankoh to hang, said he deserved death because the military government would not have been able to commit atrocities for so long without his support.

Sankoh was in Nigeria at the time of the coup, but he urged his followers to support the military government.

Foday Sankoh burst into war songs as he left the courtroom.

He said he would appeal against his sentence.

A number of soldiers and civilians have already been sentenced to death in connection with the Sierra Leone coup, provoking widespread international condemnation.

The military government was ousted by a Nigerian-led intervention force earlier this year.