The first regional contact group meeting has been held between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), whose Commander called the encounter "another step forward in the search for lasting peace."
Opening the meeting, which took place in the town of Mange yesterday, UNAMSIL Force Commander Lt. Gen. Daniel I. Opande stressed the importance of implementing the decisions taken in previous meetings.

One of the main issues for discussion was the repair of craters at a bridge in Mange. The participants agreed that repair work would begin on 12 March, with the RUF providing 100 people to work on the repair project and the Catholic Mission supplying food for the workers for a period of five days.