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Disarmament resumes in Kailahun

    ABIDJAN

    Disarmament resumed in the eastern town of Kailahun on Tuesday with some 74 ex-combatants having disarmed by 13:00 hours [GMT], a UN Mission for Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) official, Masimba Tafirenyika told IRIN.

    The move was in response to a visit by UNAMSIL's Force Commander Lt-Gen Daniel Opande and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) interim leader Issa Sesay, to the eastern area on Monday.

    Sesay, accompanied by other senior RUF officials, told Kailahun residents that their town was one of the only two districts in the country yet to disarm. "It does not make sense if the people of Kailahun do not finish a process that has been completed in almost every part of the country," a UNAMSIL reported him as saying.

    Disarmament in the area officially started when four RUF combatants disarmed in a "symbolic exercise". The armed fighters in the region are also scheduled to start disarming in the diamond-rich town of Tongo Fields on Wednesday, Tafirenyika said, adding that the RUF commander in Tongo Fields on Monday asked for "time" to inform his combatants.

    "The war is over and peace has returned to Tongo," he said. Sesay also instructed the RUF brigade commander in the town, Sama Banya, to start preparing his men for disarmament.

    Disarmament in the eastern Kailahun and Kenema districts had been slowed down after the RUF expressed concern over a number of political issues, including the release of political prisoners and the transformation of the RUF into a political party. However, despite this, more than 380 RUF combatants have disarmed so far in the district, UNAMSIL said.

    "According to the agreement between the parties, disarmament is unconditional and should not be tied to political or any other grievances," Tafirenyika said.

    He explained that the visit to the two areas - Kailahun town and Tongo Fields - followed a meeting on Friday between the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Oluyemi Adeniji and top RUF officials at their Magburaka office in the central district of Tonkolili.

    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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