Government tentatively agrees to ceasefire

Presidential spokeman Septimus Kaikai confirmed to IRIN on Friday that the government was ready to agree to a ceasefire with rebels provided UN monitors were in place. "We need monitors on the ground to ensure that peace holds," Kaikai said. Up to this week, the government had said it would only agree to a ceasefire if rebels vacated highways and key mining areas. Much of the interior of Sierra Leone remains inaccessible to humanitarian agencies due to the insecurity on the roads. "We believe if they move away from the highways, we can reduce the suffering of the population," Kaikai said on Friday. Asked if the rebels had agreed to these conditions, Kaikai said he "was not aware if they had". He was also unable to confirm whether the ceasefire would go ahead if they did not. Meanwhile, Revolutionary United Front (RUF) spokesman Omrie Golley was quoted by AFP as saying on Thursday from Lome, Togo, that while the rebels had agreed to a draft peace proposal to cease hostilities, they had not agreed to free up highways. RUF leader Foday Sankoh and his commanders have been holding internal meetings in Lome since late April to develop a strategy for peace negotiations with the government. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Francis Okelo, has expressed the concern of the UN that the dialogue process should be given a fair chance to succeed, according to a statement from the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL). The parties involved in the conflict are being encouraged to exercise voluntary military restraint for the duration of the talks, facilitate the free movement of civilians and allow humanitarian organisations unhindered access to the suffering people, the statement said. The ceasefire proposal now under consideration was initiated by President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo as chairman of ECOWAS, according to UNOMSIL. It was sent to Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and discussed with him by the ECOWAS executive secretary on 2 May. The foreign minister of Togo presented the same draft to the RUF delegation in Lome.