RUF commanders still awaited for Lome talks

Rebels commanders of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were still to arrive in Lome, Togo, for consultative talks with their detained political leader, Foday Sankoh. Tchabode Adgagbe, the Togolese Foreign Ministry spokesman told IRIN on Monday: "Some are in Liberia and others still in the Sierra Leonean bush." The RUF group, comprising between 14 and 20 individuals, is due to discuss with Sankoh peace proposals for presentation to the Sierra Leonean government. This RUF meeting, on neutral ground, was a condition set by the rebels for participating in peace talks with the government in Freetown. Sankoh arrived in Lome on Sunday escorted by UN officials from the capital, Freetown, where he is being held pending an appeal on a treason conviction. Sankoh was met by Togolese Foreign Minister Joseph Kokou Koffigoh, Reuters reported. Sierra Leone President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah released Sankoh for the meeting in an effort to break the battlefield impasse in Sierra Leone. "The Revolutionary United Front is convinced of the need for peace and they know that they have to make some sacrifice," Sankoh told reporters as he boarded the Lome-bound UN plane at Freetown's Lungi International Airport. The RUF has been demanding Sankoh's release for months but Kabbah has said the courts would decide Sankoh's fate. However, more recently, Kabbah has said he would pardon Sankoh if that would guarantee lasting peace in the country.