LUNGI, Sierra Leone (AP) - The leader of Sierra Leone's rebel movement called on disarmed rebel fighters to stand by the peace accord that is bringing him into a power-sharing government.

　``Now the people are crying for peace. Now is the time to give peace to the people,'' Foday Sankoh told a cheering crowd of nearly 800 demobilized fighters from his Revolutionary United Front and their allies in Sierra Leone's former junta.

　The RUF waged an eight-year civil war against the elected government, killing tens of thousands of civilians before a peace treaty was signed in July.

　``Soldiers should not engage in banditry. You already have a bad name. No more guns, no more machetes, no more amputations. We are concerned about your attitude to the civilians,'' he said at a camp for demobilized soldiers in Lungi, about 15 miles north of Freetown, the capital.

　Although both sides have agreed to disarm, the ex-fighters at the Lungi camp are among the tiny fraction of the estimated 45,000 combatants who have turned in their weapons.

　Sankoh and Johnny Paul Koroma, the leader of the ousted junta, who also spoke at the gathering Friday, have repeatedly promised to hold to the agreement since they returned to Sierra Leone this week.

　But despite their promises, many Sierra Leoneans remain wary of Sankoh and Koroma, fearful that the bloodletting of earlier days could begin again.

　In the latter part of Sierra Leone's war, Sankoh's rebels executed a grisly campaign - killing, raping and mutilating thousands - in a bid to extend their influence.

　Koroma was ousted from power in early 1998 by a Nigerian-led intervention force, which acts as the de-facto army for the bankrupt government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.

　The U.N. is considering sending a 6,000-strong force to prevent more bloodshed in Sierra Leone.

　Meanwhile, the World Health Organization in Geneva said Friday that some 800,000 children will be vaccinated against polio in Sierra Leone in a major push to eradicate the disease. The vaccination effort, beginning Saturday, was made possible after both the government and rebel organizations agreed to cooperate.

　Over a five-day period, the campaign will target all children under the age of five in the country. Sierra Leone's president will be among those administering vaccines on the first day.

　 (the Associated Press)