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afrol News, 3 January - With less than a week to go in Sierra Leone's national disarmament process, more than 42,000 former combatants in the country's civil war have already turned in their weapons to the United Nations peacekeeping mission. Of the total, 16,620 were from the rebel/terrorist Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and 25,314 from the pro-government Civil Defence Force (CDF). The remaining 198 were former Sierra Leone Army and Armed Forces Revolutionary Council members. UNAMSIL, as the UN mission is known, said the total number exceeded its projections that some 30,000 combatants would disarm as a result of the exercise. More ex-fighters were expected to turn in their weapons by 5 January, the date by which the Mission intends to complete the disarmament process. Disarmament originally was set to end by 30 November but "because of logistical problems," particularly in the two districts of Kailahun and Kenema, it was postponed. According to UNAMSIL, however, a total of 359 ex-fighters handed in their weapons over the past days in the eastern districts of Kailahun and Kenema, now bringing to 42,132 the total number of combatants disarmed in the country since the programme began in May 2001. Kailahun and Kenema have been the last two of Sierra Leone's districts to disarm. The two districts, former rebel strongholds in the diamond-rich zone, were occupied by the RUF throughout the 10-year civil war.
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