CHRISTO JOHNSON, FREETOWN | Wednesday
SIERRA Leone’s rebels and a government militia agreed on Tuesday to stop all hostilities in order to protect a ceasefire and prepare for disarmament to end a brutal decade-long war.
Talks between the two sides are the most significant inside Sierra Leone since a 1999 peace deal collapsed a year ago, plunging the former British colony back into bloodshed marked by horrific atrocities against civilians.
They follow a meeting in Nigeria earlier this month where both the government and Revolutionary United Front (RUF) agreed to stick to the November ceasefire that has allowed UN troops to deploy in rebel-held areas.
But the rebels came to the talks complaining of attacks by the pro-government Kamajor militia, particularly in areas close to diamond fields whose stones have fuelled the conflict.
”We … solemnly undertake to ensure the cessation of all hostilities,” said a joint statement at the meeting from the RUF and the government’s Civil Defence Force, which oversees the Kamajors.
The groups said that the UN peacekeeping force would ”immediately ensure the observance of this undertaking as well as the unimpeded movement of persons, goods and services throughout the country.”
Hopes of peace have been raised by the deployment of peacekeepers a year after the UN mission — the world’s biggest — suffered embarrassment when the rebels took hundreds of peacekeepers hostage.
Hundreds of British troops rushed to bolster the UN force last May and have since been training the army of elected President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. – Reuters