President, Rebel Leader to Sign Pact

President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and rebel army leader Foday Sankoh will sign an accord today to end five years of civil war in Sierra Leone, government officials said. Ivory Coast President Henri Konan Bedie, who hosted peace talks earlier this year, will oversee the signing in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan, according to a spokesman for Bedie. A U.N. official in Sierra Leone confirmed the plan. The accord had been reached after months of sporadic talks. Both sides have been under pressure to end the war, which has killed more than 10,000 people and derailed the West African country’s once-lucrative mining industry.