RUF pledges peace to Frechette

The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) told a top UN official at a meeting on Friday that it wished to cooperate with the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), UN spokesman Fred Eckhard reported on Monday in New York. The meeting between Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette and RUF spokesperson Gibril Massaquoi along with the RUF chief of administration, Jonathan Kposowa, took place in Lunsar, some 87 km northeast of Freetown. During the meeting Frechette said the RUF must match its words with deeds and provide “concrete evidence day after day” that it is committed to implementing the ceasefire agreement it signed with Sierra Leone’s government in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on 10 November. Shortly after the meeting, the UN reported, the RUF dismantled three checkpoints between Lunsar and Rogberi, some 15 km to the west. UNAMSIL deployed on 14 March to Lunsar, a town formerly held by the RUF. During her 4-7 April trip to Sierra Leone, Frechette visited UN peacekeepers at Lungi airport, north of Freetown, and was briefed by UNAMSIL officials on the political and military situation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and public information activities. She also met NGO representatives to discuss progress in the peace process and ways of improving coordination and cooperation between their organisations and the UN.