3,000 weapons burned to symbolise end of conflict

A symbolic weapons burning ceremony took place at Lungi, north of the capital Freetown, on Friday to mark the end of a decade of civil conflict in Sierra Leone. During the event 3,000 weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were destroyed, Francis Kai-Kai, Executive Secretary of the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, told IRIN on Friday. "We're in a good and a sombre mood, it's unbelievable the war is over," Kai-Kai said. Speaking at the ceremony, Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared that the war was over and the curfew had been lifted. Revolutionary United Front (RUF) interim leader Issa Sesay said that the RUF was ready for peace, according to Kai-Kai, who attended the ceremony. Others attending the event included Ghanaian President John Kufuor, representatives of regional heads of state, UN officials and civil society. The burning of weapons would continue over the weekend, Kai-Kai added, with ceremonies in Makeni, northern Sierra Leone on Saturday, and with more weapons being burned in the southern town of Bo, and in Kenema, in eastern Sierra Leone on Sunday. Over 45,000 former combatants have handed over weapons to the authorities under the government's disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme since May 2001. A communiqué issued on Thursday after the final meeting of the tripartite committee, attended by representatives from the Government of Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), formally declared that disarmament had been completed throughout the country. Weapons not collected under the government's disarmament and demobilisation programme will continue to be brought in under a community arms collection drive, it said.