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Government denies RUF claim of ceasefire violations

    ABIDJAN

    Sierra Leone's government denied on Tuesday an allegation by rebel leader Foday Sankoh that the pro-government Kamajor
    militia had attacked Revolutionary United Front (RUF) positions less than two weeks after the Lome peace accord.

    "Government troops are doing everything possible to uphold the ceasefire agreement and the provisions of the accord itself," presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN.

    In an interview with AFP, Sankoh said that Masingbi and Gold Town, two villages between the northern town of Makeni and Kono in the east, were attacked on Sunday. He said the information came from a radio report received by a rebel commander in the region.

    Sankoh said he had ordered reinforcements into the area, some 225 km east of Freetown, and that he was writing a report on the incident.

    UNOMSIL's military spokesman in Freetown, Major Jim Gray, told IRIN he could not give any information as there were no UN military observers in the area where the attacks allegedly occurred.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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