U.N.sets new round of Sierra Leone peace talks

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's government, rebels and U.N. officials will hold a new round of talks on Friday to cement a peace process aimed at ending a decade-long civil war, the United Nations said on Thursday.

U.N. special representative Oluyemi Adeniji said the talks, a follow-up to two similar meetings earlier this year, would "concentrate more on political issues." He did not elaborate

Speaking on the radio of the U.N. mission in the West African country, he said Friday's meeting would be held in Kenema - the capital of the eastem region whose diamonds have fueled one of Africa 's most brutal conflicts.

"With the progress achieved in the disarmament of the diamond-rich Kono district, we need to go back to the drawing board and assess the situation which would enable us to make more progress in the peace process," Adeniji said.

One political source said that among issues likely to be discussed was the possible release of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh, who has been detained at an unknown location since May last year.

The source said the government was likely to press rebels to allow the Sierra Leonean army to deploy to Kono district.

The refusal by the RUF to let police deploy to the northern rebel stronghold of Makeni last week in a dispute over detained rebel comrades would also be on the agenda, the source said

PEACE PROSPECTS LOOKING UP

Peace prospects in Sierra Leone have looked stronger than ever since U.N peacekeepers started to deploy to rebel-held areas, including in Kono district, thanks to a November cease-fire which has broadly halted fighting.

More than 13,000 RUF fighters and pro-government militiamen have laid down their weapons since the latest disarmament agreement in May, although sporadic fighting has continued, said Hedi Annabi, a U.N. assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping.

During the same period, more than 1,100 children have been released by the RUF, a spokesman quoted Annabi as telling a closed meeting of the U.N Security Council in New York.

The troop strength of the U.N. Mission in Sierra Leone, known as UNAMSIL, has at the same time increased to 14,378 last month with the arrival of a Pakistani battalion, Annabi said.

Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, the Security Council president for August, toïd reporters after the Annabi briefing that the councii's 15 member-nations welcomed the progress in the peace process in the past two months.

But council members now wanted the government to follow up on the gains by extending its authority throughout the country and building up a robust police presence in order to help lay the groundwork for elections, which it hoped would take place "as soon as conditions permit," Valdivieso said. 

Presidential and parliamentary polls are due to be held in Sierra Leone before the end of the year. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's mandate expired in March but parliament extended it because continued insecurity prevented elections.

Council members also urged the government to develop a long-term strategy for managing the diamond-producing areas. 

The role of the gems in fueling Sierra Leone's brutal war has been one of the biggest factors in a world campaign against so-called "blood diamonds" used to fund conflicts.

As part of peace efforts, RUF rebels, the government and the United Nations agreed to ban all diamond mining in the Kono district from July 18.