Sierra Leone Rebels Free 80 Abducted ChildrenThe rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone Monday announced that it had freed 80 of some 400 abducted youngsters, who the RUF promised to release this month, reported the News Agency of NigeriaThe agency quoted RUF spokesman Omrie Golley as saying that the 80 children were released at the weekend and another 150 children, including some former child soldiers, were soon to be set free. "Most of the children are boys between the ages of between eight and 14," Golley said. On Sunday, a spokeswoman for the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone confirmed that an agreement to free the children, some of whom have been used as fighters in the decade-long civil war, had been reached between the RUF and the government. Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the RUF had also released 24 Guinean civilians, including 16 women and two children, taken prisoner in January and February during conflict along the border between the two West African countries. Sierra Leone's civil war has claimed at least 200,000 lives since it erupted in March 1991. However the situation in the war- torn West African country has improved since the U.N. peacekeeping troops gradually deployed to rebel-held areas since March under a ceasefire signed last November. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |