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Lome Peace Accord


The Lomé Peace Accord was a peace agreement signed on 7 July 1999 between the warring parties in the civil war that gripped Sierra Leone for almost a decade. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah signed with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader, Foday Sankoh and granted Sankoh a position in the transitional government as well as amnesty for him and all combatants. The accord is named for Lomé, the capital of Togo, where the negotiations took place and the agreement was signed.

The conflict had been dragging on since a RUF coup attempt against Kabbah in 1997. Sierra Leonean politicians at home and abroad were ready to negotiate with the rebels, including Omrie Golley and Pallo Bangura (AFRC/RUF junta's "foreign minister"). At the same time, President Kabbah was worn down from the fighting, the coup attempt, the siege of Freetown (Sierra Leone's capital), and the weakening support of the Nigerians in ECOMOG, a peacekeeping force in the country. Kabbah wanted peace, and was willing to make sacrifices. Sankoh wanted power, and was willing to fight for it. On 18 May, in the presence of United States special envoy Jesse Jackson and Togolese president Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Kabbah and Sankoh signed an initial cease-fire in Lomé. As a result, Sankoh, along with a negotiation team consisting of field commanders and allies, went to Lomé for negotiations with Kabbah's delegation, headed by Attorney General Solomon Berewa. After delays, the negotiations began in Lomé on 26 May.


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