November 14, 2001
Abuja, Nigeria - Officials of the United Nations and the West African grouping Ecowas will on Friday meet in New York to discuss the current peace process in Sierra Leone, an Ecowas statement said on Wednesday.
Participants in the meeting, including officials of the Sierra Leonean government, will evaluate the implementation of the ceasefire accord on that country signed in Abuja on November 10 last year, it said.
The agreement was signed by the government of Sierra Leone and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which launched a rebellion against the government in Freetown in 1991, it added.
Representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and the United Nations will also assess the situation of the UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone Unamsil, as well as disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes for rebels and armed militias.
Delegates will also review Sierra Leone's political programme and the impact of developments in neighbouring Guinea and Liberia.
The meeting, to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, will also decide on a date for the next meeting between Ecowas delegates and the RUF.
The last such meeting was last May.
A meeting of the Ecowas Mediation and Security Council will follow on Saturday in New York to evaluate the security situation in countries in the Mano River Union, the statement said.
The council is made up of Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
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