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Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels have stopped another UN military patrol from travelling from the eastern town of Kailahun to Buedu on the Liberian border, an information officer at the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) told IRIN on Friday.
The local rebel commander said he had not received orders from RUF Party (RUFP) leader Foday Sankoh to allow the patrol through. The patrol was scheduled to make another attempt to reach Buedu today.
In a meeting on 9 March in Freetown, the main parties to the Lome Peace Accord agreed that UNAMSIL and humanitarian workers would have unhindered access throughout Sierra Leone, that the government was in full control of the country, and that disarmament would take place nationwide as facilities became available, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard, said.
The meeting, convened by Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, was attended by Sankoh, ex-Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) leader Johnny Paul Koroma, and Hinga Norman, the leader of the Civil Defence Force, which supported the government against the rebels. Also present were Oluyemi Adeniji, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, and Major General Vijay Jetley, the UN Force Commander in Sierra Leone.
UN peacekeepers, some 107 military personnel and six military observers, were deployed two weeks ago to the RUF stronghold of Kailahun. Earlier attempts to deploy in the east failed because of rebel activity in the area.
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