RUF submits peace proposal to Eyadema

Sierra Leone rebels called on Tuesday for the release of their leader, Foday Sankoh, as a condition for negotiations on ending the conflict, news organisations reported. "Our leader must be freed unconditionally in order for him to participate in the negotiations," Reuters quoted Solomon Rogers as saying after holding strategy talks with Sankoh in Lome, Togo. Rogers, head of a delegation of rebel field commanders, handed over the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)'s proposals for peace to Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema, current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Eyadema is leading regional mediation efforts to end the war in Sierra Leone. "We can assure you that we are committed to peace. We are ready to negotiate," news organisations quoted Sankoh as telling Eyadema at a ceremony in Lome. According to AFP, Eyadema said that the rebel demand for the "unconditional release of Sankoh" would be "one condition, among others, to be thrashed out at the negotiating table". RUF and government representatives were expected to start direct negotiations at the end of the consultations in Togo but on Tuesday neither side said when these talks would begin, Reuters reported.