| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
ABIDJAN, 26 May (IRIN) - Military commanders from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and ECOMOG met on Tuesday some 40 km from Freetown, ECOMOG spokesman Lt-Col Chris Olukulade told IRIN on Wednesday.
Olukulade said the rebels had sent a boy soldier aged about seven with a message to one of the ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group) field commanders in the area, Colonel Ralph Apata, saying the insurgents wanted to surrender and "were tired of being in the bush".
However when the two sides came face to face, Olukulade said, they "wanted to play to the gallery of journalists and observers present" and instead of surrendering, discussed the exchange of prisoners of war and other issues relating to the peace process.
They also made a public commitment to respect the ceasefire, which officially began on Monday, and asked UN military observers, also present at the meeting, to tell aid agencies that civilians in the areas they controlled needed urgent assistance.
The meeting between field commanders involved Apata,
one of the senior Nigerian officers leading the ECOMOG
force supporting Sierra Leone's government, and rebel
commander George Johnson, also known as 'Junior Lion'
or Brigadier Ibrahim Ceesay, Olukulade said.
It took place on the main east-west highway, which has
been the scene of fierce fighting during the conflict.
WFP appeals for safe access
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) appealed on Wednesday for "safe and unimpeded access by humanitarian organisations to all people in need of food and other aid".
In a press release, WFP said that an estimated 2.6 million people, more than half the population, were beyond the reach of any relief intervention and that it hoped a pledge made in the ceasefire agreement to allow access would be implemented quickly by all parties.
[ENDS]
[IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 217366 Fax: +225 216335 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org ]
Item: irin-english-898
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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