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Government orders West Side Boys to disarm

    NAIROBI
    The Sierra Leone government has ordered former Sierra Leone Army (SLA) elements known as the 'West Side Boys' to disarm to UN peacekeepers, state radio reported on Friday, according to Sierra Leone Web. "The government has heard your grievances and concerns and hears that you are loyal to the government and wish to continue to fight against our common enemy, the RUF," the statement said. The fighters, loyal to ex-Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) Johnny Paul Koroma, were told to go to Masiaka, east of Freetown, on Monday and Tuesday to be disarmed and that those who failed to do so would be punished, the statement said. Sierra Leonean Deputy Defence Minister Hinga Norman said that the removal of the 'West Side Boys' from the Occra Hills area outside Freetown would help towards achieving the government's goal of lasting peace and security in the country, the Sierra Leone News Agency (SLENA) reported on Thursday.

    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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