Government, rebels agree to accelerate disarmament

The government of Sierra Leone and the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) on Thursday agreed to implement in "good faith all the decisions agreed in prior meetings", a statement from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) said.

At the end of the one-day meeting of the Joint committee on Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), comprising of the government, UNAMSIL and RUF, the government and RUF delegations drew up a timetable for the completion of disarmament in the remaining districts of the country, the statement said.

In a joint communiqué signed by Sierra Leone's Justice Minister, Solomon Berewa, and the chairman of RUF's Political and Peace Council, Omrie Golley, the parties agreed to complete disarmament in the northern district of Koinadugu and the southern district of Moyamba by 22 October, and in the southern district of Bo and the northern district of Bombali by 31 October.

They also agreed on an accelerated schedule for the remainder of the DDR process, with disarmament of the Western Area from 1-7 November, the districts of Tonkolili in the central and Pujehun in the south and districts of Kenema and Kailahun in the east from 15-30 November, the statement said.

As regards the issue of shotguns that are not covered by the DDR programme, the government agreed to announce as soon as possible a programme to collect all such weapons with the collaboration of UNAMSIL, the statement said, adding that the weapons collected by the government will be kept by UNAMSIL in safe custody.

According to the agreement, the Civil Defence Forces (CDF) would disarm along with RUF combatants in their respective districts and that the previously established criteria for group disarmament would be applied uniformly. Leaders from both parties agreed to clearly inform their combatants on the agreed criteria, UNAMSIL added.