Disarmament in Kono next priority

UNAMSIL Force Commander Lt-Gen Daniel Opande said on Tuesday that disarmament of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters and a pro-government militia in Kono District was “the most pressing” task for the UN mission at the moment.

There are 1,700 RUF and 1,300 pro-government Civil Defence Forces (CDF) fighters waiting to disarm in this sector. A UNAMSIL source said the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration was building a camp at Yengema, Kono District, to host the fighters.
“Both groups will be encamped together,” the source added.

There have been several ceasefire violations in Kono which Opande said were resolved through negotiations. His deputy commander, Maj-Gen Martin Agwai, visited the village of Kainkordu, near the Guinean border, and met the CDF leaders. The leaders agreed that “they will ensure that there will be no more ceasefire violations and no more movements until disarmament and demoblibisation starts in Kono.”

Opande said apart from disarmament, UNAMSIL had been conducting extensive patrols throughout the country: from Kailahun, Daru and Koidu in the east; to Makeni, Magburaka, Kabala, Kamakwie in the north; and to Pujehun and Bonthe in the south.

“We have exhausted the areas that we have never been to before,” he said.
Asked about reported rebel activity in Kassiri in Kambia District he added:
“We will not allow, in any part of this country, organized rebels to hold onto ground. Once we get to know where they are, we will go there and we will get them out.”