[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 20 (Monday, May 24, 1999)]
[Page 933]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Cease-Fire Agreement in Sierra Leone

May 18, 1999

    I welcome the signing of a cease-fire agreement today in Lome, Togo, 
by President Kabbah of Sierra Leone and the leader of the Revolutionary 
United Front rebels, Foday Sankoh. I want to express my appreciation to 
my Special Envoy for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa, the Rev. 
Jesse Jackson, the Economic Community of West African States, and to the 
U.N. for helping to bring about this agreement which marks an important 
first step towards peace.
    The conflict in Sierra Leone has killed tens of thousands of 
people--6,000 in the first month of this year alone. Half a million men, 
women, and children have become refugees, and one-fifth of Sierra 
Leone's population has been uprooted.
    With the continued commitment and engagement of both parties, the 
cease-fire and the confidence-building measures outlined in the 
agreement today can pave the way for the negotiation of a durable peace 
agreement. I welcome the agreement as a step toward providing for 
guaranteed safe and unhindered access by humanitarian agencies to all 
people in need, and hope that the world might soon witness an end to the 
needless suffering of Sierra Leone's people.
    I urge all parties to implement the agreement in good faith.