Sankoh sets conditions for disarmament

The leader of the Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP) told Sierra Leone’s parliament on Wednesday that he would not order his fighters to disarm unless there was a simultaneous disarmament of other factions, AFP reported.

Since the signing of the Lome Peace Accord in July, the former rebel leader, Foday Sankoh, had repeatedly promised to allow free access to UN peacekeepers throughout the country and had been on several sensitisation trips purportedly to encourage his fighters to disarm nationwide.

However the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has been trying to deploy in rebel-held, diamond-mining areas for several weeks, but local rebel commanders have prevented them from doing so. The most recent incident occurred on Monday when RUF rebels stopped Indian peacekeepers from travelling to the eastern town of Kailahun.

An opposition member of the Sierra Leonean parliament, Victor Foh, said he had been in the RUF base in Kailahun and believed that Sankoh was not fully committed to the peace process. “His fighters have only to hear the voice of Sankoh and they would disarm without delay,” AFP reported Foh as saying. Sankoh reportedly told parliament on Wednesday that he would travel to Kailahun on Friday with a view to disarming his fighters, AFP said.

Sankoh has recently been accused by the international community of not fully supporting the peace process. Following the presentation on Monday of the UN Secretary-General’s latest report on Sierra Leone, the UN Security Council expressed concern at the shortcomings in the implementation of the Lome Peace Accord, in particular the slow progress in the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme, and the continued violation of human rights.

Terming the situation “unacceptable”, Council members said the responsibility lay with Sankoh and the RUF, who, they said, had not lived up to their commitments under the peace agreement.