(Rapaport…September 4, 2001) Sierra Leone President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah shook hands with General Issa Sesay, the interim leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, on September 3 and declared that the country’s civil war was at an end. The leaders met in a Catholic church in Kono joined by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Mali President, and current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Alpha Oumar.
“From the discussion the three heads of states had with the RUF leadership, today I am convinced that the war is over,” Kabbah said.
The announcement followed a series of closed-door meetings in which the rebels raised a number of demands, according to the Associated Press.