S. Leone Govt. Probes Ceasefire ViolationsUN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) Tuesday said the Sierra Leonean government has assigned officials to investigate the recent ceasefire violations in a bid to ensure the progress of the disarmament process, reports reaching in Lagos from the country's capital Freetown said."The junior defense minister Norman (Sierra Lenoe's Deputy Defense Minister Hinga Norman) would investigate the incident and other recent ceasefire violations and take steps to stop any future occurrence," UNAMSIL spokeswoman Margaret Nowicki was quoted as saying. Norman is also chief of the pro-government Civil Defense Forces (CDF) or the "Kamajor", which reportedly had attacked the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels recently in northeastern Sierra Leone. Earlier Monday, the UNAMSIL confirmed that the Kamajors had attacked RUF positions at Jagwema town, about 20 kilometer away from the diamond-rich town of Koidu in the Kono district between May 19 to 20, saying that the actions violated the ceasefire agreement signed by the two parties last week. Meanwhile, the RUF also complained to UNAMSIL over the disparity in the disarmament, saying that mot of the disarmed combatants are from the RUF. However, according to the UNAMSIL, up to Tuesday 1,729 combatants, made up of 814 RUF fighters and 915 Kamajors, had surrendered their weapons at appointed collection points. The RUF and Sierra Leonean government met on May 15 in Freetown and signed a cease-fire agreement that includes simultaneous disarmament of both the RUF rebels and the CDF soldiers. Under the disarmament agreement, both the RUF and CDF agreed to surrender weapons to the UNAMSIL from May 18 in two areas -- Kambia, about 80 kilometers north of Freetown, and Port Loko, some 60 kilometres northeast of the Sierra Leone capital. The disarmament process is due to be completed no later than May 28. A ceasefire agreed upon in last November largely ended the decade-long fighting between the pro-government forces and the rebels. |
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