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Sierra Leone Rebels, Civil Militia Agree to Disarm Without Delay
The rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of Sierra Leone and a government-backed Civil Defense Force, known as the Kamajors, have agreed to start disarming their fighters this week in an effort to bring peace to the war-torn west African country.
According to a joint statement at the end of the meeting between the two sides, which ended late on Tuesday, they agreed to start " disarmament, demobilization and reintegration without delay," said reports reaching here on Wednesday from Freetown.
"The disarmament process for both the RUF and the Civil Defense Forces...is to begin in the Kambia and Port Loko districts in the north of the country on May 18, 2001 and to be completed no later than May 28, 2001," the statement was quoted as saying.
Both parties will have to disarm to the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) simultaneously, the document said, adding that they also agreed to release child fighters and abducted women.
It said the Sierra Leonean government will consider the release of RUF detainees "in the light of progress being made in the peace process".
The two parties had earlier agreed to halt all hostilities under the supervision of the U.N. peacekeeping force after the peace talk on Tuesday.
Freetown's talks followed a meeting in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, earlier in May when the government and the RUF agreed to stick to a November ceasefire that has allowed U.N. troops to deploy in rebel-held areas.
The talks between the RUF and the Kamajors was also attended by representatives of the Sierra Leone government and the UNAMSIL.
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