Peace deal followed by jubilation, then caution

Civil society representatives in Freetown told IRIN on Thursday that after an initial reaction of excitement and jubilation to the signing of the Lome peace treaty, people were responding in a much more reflective manner 24 hours later. The coordinator of the non-governmental Campaign for Good Governance, Zainab Bangura, said the response on Wednesday was not comparable to that of 1996 when the Abidjan Peace Accord was signed. Then, people danced in the streets as soon as they heard a deal had been struck. After the initial excitement on Wednesday, she said, a mood of solemnity prevailed and people were anxiously waiting to see what would happen next. "We need to be convinced that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)genuinely desires peace," she said, "and the signing of a piece of paper does not guarantee peace." The agreement signed on Wednesday by the government and the RUF consolidates a May 24 ceasefire. It provides for the RUF to become a political party and grants it four cabinet posts (one of them senior) and four deputy ministerial positions. Sankoh, previously sentenced to death for treason, receives amnesty and is to be the chairman of a Board for the Management of Strategic Resources, National Reconstruction and Development, answerable only to President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Fighters on both sides are to receive amnesty for offences committed since March 1991.