Over 45,000 ex-fighters hand in their weapons

Disarmament of former fighters under the Sierra Leone government's disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme has formally ended, UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) spokesperson Margaret Novicki told IRIN on Monday. Demobilisation was, however, continuing, she said.

According to Novicki, 45,449 former combatants handed over weapons to the authorities between 18 May 2001 and 6 January 2002. The collection of weapons not covered under DDR was still going on under a community arms collection (CAC) programme, she added.

The CAC, also set up by the government but coordinated by the police in conjunction with UNAMSIL, was continuing in an effort to "mop up" lethal weapons, such as shotguns, on a district-by-district basis, she said. So far 646 weapons and 23,525 rounds of ammunition had been collected.

The large numbers of former fighters coming forward to disarm had led to some congestion and logistical problems in the demobilisation process, Novicki said. As a result, registration of ex-combatants at reception centres was still ongoing.

In a related incident six Zambian UN peacekeepers in Tongo Field, eastern Sierra Leone, were killed on Saturday and twelve others wounded when a mortar bomb exploded. The accident occurred as the bombs, handed over during the disarmament exercise earlier in the day, were being moved to a weapons storage centre. The injured peacekeepers were being treated in Choithram hospital in the capital, Freetown, UNAMSIL reported.

Meanwhile a UN team of legal experts sent to Sierra Leone to organise the setting up of a war crimes tribunal, was due to meet Attorney General Solomon Berewa on Monday, Novicki said. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week authorised the establishment of the Special Court to try those responsible for rights abuses during the 10-year civil war.