Religious groups welcome move to free Sankoh

Representatives of religious communities in Sierra Leone have "warmly embraced" the move to pardon rebel chief Foday Sankoh, a church leader told IRIN on Monday. News organisations reported that, in a compromise deal reached at peace talks in Lome, Togo, the Sierra Leonean government has promised to take legal steps to pardon Sankoh. Albert Kanu, deputy secretary-general of the Council for Churches in Sierra Leone, said the news was welcomed by representatives of Muslim and Christian groups attending a meeting of the executive committee of Sierra Leone's Inter-Religious Council. The breakthrough came on Saturday when the head of the government delegation, Solomon Berewa, said in a statement that the government "reaffirms that it has taken the decision that if the release of Foday Sankoh is the price to be paid to bring lasting peace to Sierra Leone, it will take appropriate legal steps to grant him absolute and free pardon". Berewa, who is Sierra Leone's attorney-general, added: "This decision still stands unaltered and it will be honoured." Sankoh told journalists that he and his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were disappointed that he could not be granted an immediate, unconditional release, but promised to continue the dialogue in the interest of lasting peace. The United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) said in a press release on Saturday that the presence of the RUF leader at the meeting for the first time since the opening of the talks, as well as his statement, showed his personal commitment to the dialogue for peace. UNOMSIL added that it welcomed Saturday's step forward, which strengthened its belief that both the government and the RUF are committed to peace. The talks, now entering their second week, are expected to begin focusing on other key issues such as power-sharing, an amnesty for soldiers who joined the RUF and details concerning Sankoh's release, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said.