Kamajors suspend disarmament in Bo

The head of Sierra Leone's National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) expressed confidence on Monday that a "misunderstanding" which led the pro-government Kamajor militia to suspend its disarmament in the southern district of Bo would be ironed out.

"We had some hiccups," NCDDR Executive Secretary Francis Kaikai told IRIN. "But the hiccups are not anything that we can't resolve. We are hoping that we will discuss with them and find a solution."

The Kamajors stopped handing in their weapons on Friday in protest against what they called a "new condition" imposed on ex-combatants who want to disarm. BBC reported at the weekend that the "new" condition required combatants wishing to enter the DDR programme to turn over a weapon and 60 rounds of ammunition to UN peacekeepers. It noted that fewer than 700 of the 14,000 Kamajors had disarmed before the suspension.

The standoff was caused by "misunderstanding because of misinformation," Kaikai said. "We believe we can resolve the problems because everybody in Sierra Leone wants peace," he added. "Because this is a process and not an activity, there are bound to be problems, but we are optimistic about the peace process."

The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) confirmed that there was a temporary halt to disarmament on Friday but denied reports that it had imposed a "new condition" on the ex-combatants.

"NCDDR makes rules, they change or modify them, they send it to UNAMSIL and the military officers on the ground whose only role is to implement," a UNAMSIL official told IRIN on Monday. "The ex-combatants were not happy with the policy in this case on Friday and decided not to accept it. We don't formulate policies we only help to implement."