A TOTAL of 354 Sierra Leonean rebels and 255 fighters from a state backed militia had handed-over their weapons by the third day of a disarmament pact in the war-ravaged north of the country, a UN representative said. Rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) disarmed at several collection points over the past few days including Rokupr in Kambia, Port Loko and Madina. The weapons collected by the UN peacekeepers included anti-aircraft guns, general purpose machine guns, mortar bombs and Kalashnikov assault rifles, all of which will “be destroyed and later shaped into agricultural tools,” according to Yerima. After handing over their weapons, the former fighters will spend a month in rehabilitation camps. – AFP