ECOMOG Force Commander willing to meet rebel leaders

The new force commander of the Economic Community of West African States Peace Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), Major General Gabriel Kpamber, said the peacekeeping force was willing to meet the RUF/Armed Forces Revolutionary Council leadership as a confidence-building measure, according to an ECOMOG news release.

Kpamber said this in a meeting with UNOMSIL on Thursday as a demonstration of ECOMOG's "sincerity and commitment to the successful implementation of the recently-signed peace agreement."

ECOMOG and UNOMSIL also discussed other points relevant to the
implementation of the agreement such as "release of prisoners of war, disarmament and access for humanitarian agencies", ECOMOG said.

At another meeting called by Vice President Albert Joe Demby and attended by government officials, parliamentarians, paramount chiefs, UNOMSIL and humanitarian agencies, Kpamber said "ECOMOG was now concerned with performing peace keeping and security roles through necessary confidence-building measures," according to the news release.

He also assured humanitarian agencies and NGOs of "ECOMOG's preparedness to support efforts aimed at providing relief to the war affected communities in line with the mandate of the force in Sierra Leone."

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukolade, ECOMOG spokesman in Freetown, told IRIN on Thursday that Kpamber assumed his duties as ECOMOG's 11th force commander on Sunday.