Disarmament off to a slow start in Tongo Fields

Disarmament started at a slow pace on Wednesday in the eastern diamond area of Tongo Fields, a UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) official, Masimba Tafirenyika, said on Thursday. "Twenty-four Revolutionary United Front (RUF) disarmed in Tongo Fields today [Thursday]," he told IRIN. Another 25 RUF combatants disarmed in the town on Wednesday, he said. "The pace has been slow because of logistical problems. They have to walk long distances to get to the demobilisation camps, sometimes we try to pick them up in vehicles but the roads are impassable," he said. Tafirenyika also said the slow pace was because "it seemed information had not filtered to all the combatants". He added that initially the RUF commanders had asked them to suspend disarmament. Their decision on Monday to resume disarmament had not possibly reached most of the combatants. In the eastern town of Kailuhun, 207 RUF combatants disarmed on Wednesday, he said. The number brought to a total of 866 RUF members who had disarmed in the entire district of Kailahun. Four Civil Defence Force (CDF) combatants also disarmed in the eastern town of Daru on Wednesday. A total of 240 rebels reportedly disarmed in different centres of Tongo Fields, Kailahun and Daru on Thursday, Tafirenyika said. "We except disarmament to pick up, particularly in Tongo Fields by the weekend and next week. We are optimistic it will go on well given the assurances we have got from RUF commanders."