2000s in Sierra Leone

2000s In Sierra Leone

General elections due for early 2001 were postponed in Februaryof that year due to the insecurity caused by the civil war. In May 2001, sanctions were imposed on Liberia for its support for the rebels, and U.N. peacekeepers began to make headway in disarming the various factions. Although disarmament of rebel and progovernment militias proceeded slowly and fighting continued to occur, by January 2002 most of the estimated 45,000 fighters had surrendered their weapons. In a ceremony that month, government and rebel leaders declared the civil war to have ended. An estimated 50,000 persons died in the conflict.