Freetown | Monday
SIERRA Leonean rebels have freed another group of child soldiers and the United Nations said on Sunday the move showed the peace process in the West African country was gaining momentum.
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels are notorious for making children fight in the country’s decade-long civil war and urging them to commit atrocities against civilians, such as hacking off limbs.
A representative for the U.N. mission in Sierra Leone said 59 children released on Saturday in the eastern border town of Kailahun included two girls. They were aged between nine and 17 and appeared seriously malnourished.
She said the release brought the total of children freed by the RUF over the past month to 828, a sign the rebels were serious about ending the war despite the fact that disarmament had been delayed in some parts of the country.
“The peace process continues to gain momentum,” said Margaret Novicki.
She said the handing over of weapons by rebels and government militia in the districts of Kono and Bonthe had been delayed due to logistical problems and the lack of adequate disarmament camps.
The RUF and pro-government militiamen agreed last month to start turning in their weapons from May 30 in the key diamond area of Kono, whose gems have fuelled the war, but Novicki said disarmament there was now expected to begin this week.
Peace prospects in the former British colony have brightened since the RUF and the government signed a ceasefire last November, broadly halting fighting and allowing U.N. peacekeepers to deploy in rebel-held areas.
The UN has its biggest current operation in Sierra Leone, with more than 12_000 troops. – Reuters
ZA * NOW:
Sierra leone rebels free 150 children June 7, 2001
DRC urged to spare child soldiers May 4, 2001
Child soldiers still at war in DRC April 3, 2001
Child soldiers still at war in DRC April 3, 2001
2_600 child soldiers released February 28, 2001
9-year-old soldiers found in camp February 21, 2001