SIERRA Leonean rebels said their positions had again been attacked by a government militia as they arrived in Freetown on Monday for landmark talks to secure a ceasefire and a timetable for disarmament. The talks in Freetown are a follow-up to a meeting in Nigeria earlier this month, when both sides agreed to keep to a November ceasefire which has allowed UN troops to deploy to rebel-held areas to try to end the decade-long war. Massaquoi said positions of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) at the town of Bunumbu in the far east of Sierra Leone were attacked on Monday by the Kamajor militia loyal to elected President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
* The rebels, who have used children as fighters, said on Monday they had freed 80 of some 400 abducted youngsters they promised to release this month. Omrie Golley of the RUF said the 80 children were released at the weekend and another 150 children — including some former child soldiers — were about to be set free. – Reuters