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Disarmament begins in two more districts

    ABIDJAN

    Pro-government and rebel forces started disarming in two more districts of Sierra Leone on Monday, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone said in a news release.

    Some 64 pro-government Civil Defence Forces (CDF) combatants gave up arms in Mongeri in the southern district of Bo - a CDF stronghold - at a ceremony attended by the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Oluyemi Adeniji. However, disarmament in the northern district of Bombali got off to a slower start with only three Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels handing over weapons. An RUF spokesman recently freed from Pademba Road Prison, Eldred Collins, told UNAMSIL officials that his men would prefer to use military barracks in the area to disarm rather than the school site chosen by the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) and this was why so few fighters turned up. Adeniji said the slow start was a disappointment but reiterated that both parties were committed to the peace process.

    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

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