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RUF submits peace proposal to Eyadema

[Liberia] Liberian riot police look on as supporters of George Weah protest in downtown Monrovia about polls they say were rigged. [Date picture taken: 11/12/2005] Claire Soares/IRIN
Wages of less than US $1 a day are failing to attract police recruits
    MONROVIA

    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.

    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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