The agreement comes on the first day of renewed peace talks between all sides in

Sierra Leonean rebels and a progovernment militia have agreed to stop fighting in a bid to protect the country’s shaky cease-fire and set a timetable for disarmament. The agreement comes on the first day of renewed peace talks between all sides in the 10-year civil war. Before the talks, the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front had complained of recent attacks on rebel positions by the pro-government Kamajor militia. A U. N. official called the latest agreement a major step in the search for lasting peace in Sierra Leone. The talks follow a meeting in Nigeria earlier this month where the government and the rebels renewed a pledge to abide by last November’s cease-fire that allowed 12,000 U. N. peacekeepers to deploy throughout the country. A 1999 peace accord collapsed last year after the rebels took hundreds of U. N. peacekeepers hostage. The rebels have funded much of their war effort through illicit diamond trading, and are notorious for killing and maiming thousands of civilians during the conflict.