Sierra Leone peace talks start

Meanwhile, direct talks began on Tuesday in Lome between the Sierra Leone government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) under the auspices of ECOWAS. The talks, aimed at ending an eight-year rebellion against successive governments, follow a peace deal signed on 18 May by Sierra Leonean President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and RUF leader Foday Sankoh. Kabbah's five-member delegation is led by Solomon Berewa, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. The 11-member RUF delegation is headed by Sankoh, whom Kabbah released from prison for RUF consultative talks that preluded this meeting. A UNOMSIL spokesperson told IRIN that the start of the meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Seven Foreign Ministers focusing directly on the crisis in Sierra Leone was delayed until late Tuesday. The Group, chaired by Togolese Foreign Minister Joseph Koffigoh, includes ministers from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The Group of Seven is to review peace proposals by the Sierra Leone government and the RUF respectively, and mediate between the two parties.