Sierra Leone's rebels, who have used children as fighters in a decade-long civil war, said today they had freed 80 of some 400 abducted youngsters
they promised to release this month.
Mr Omrie Golley of the Revolutionary United Front said the 80 children were released at the weekend and another 150 children - including some former child soldiers - were about to be set free.
Most of the children are boys between the ages of eight and 14, Mr Golley said.
The children freed at the weekend were in a poor state, many of them malnourished and some with bullet wounds, said an official of the Catholic relief organisation Caritas.
Hopes for peace in the West African country have been raised by increasing contacts between rebels and the government after a ceasefire last November and the gradual deployment of UN peacekeepers to rebel-held areas since March.
Golley said on yesterday the RUF planned to release 400 children this month.