New demob centres to open on Thursday

At an emergency session of the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration on Monday, it was agreed that four new demobilisation centres would open this week, a reliable UN source told IRIN on Tuesday. The centres, to open on Thursday, include two in Port Loko - one for ex-Sierra Leonean Army combatants (SLA) and one for RUF rebels, one in Kenema for Civil Defence Forces (CDF) and one in Daru for RUF fighters. At the meeting, Sankoh and Johnny Paul Koroma, head of the ex-AFRC, both agreed to tell their combatants to hand over their weapons at the centres. The meeting, chaired by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, was also attended by UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) officials including Francis Okelo, Special Representative of the Secretary General and Brigadier Joshi, Chief Military Officer. ECOMOG representatives, government officials and US Ambassador Joseph Melrose were also at the meeting, the UN source said. Meanwhile AFP reported on Monday that some 100 ex-AFRC soldiers had surrendered to the RUF in Makeni last Friday. ECOMOG was unable to confirm this.