Of all the wars that have bedeviled post-colonial Africa, there can be few as pointless and vicious as that which is tearing apart Sierra Leone. Today, the rebels' ceasefire will commence but its primary aim, the release of its leader from custody, has been ruled out by the government. A return, this day week, to more bloodshed seems highly likely. Though it has been obscure for much of the time, the war has now entered its eighth year. It has ravaged a country which, on gaining independence in 1961, had much more opportunities than many of its neighbours. It had a near-homogeneous population, developed agriculture and mines containing the world's greatest store of gem quality diamonds. Now, the mines are in ruin, starvation and disease are rife and UNICEF reckons there are more than a million lives at great risk in the capital alone.
Unlike most other wars, Sierra Leone's has nothing to do with ideology or race. In a sense, it is a war between the countryside and the capital, between the (perceived) haves and the have nots. In addition, it is a war between young and old with the young (usually involuntarily) on the side of the rebels. The war might be closer to resolution if it was clear what the rebels - the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) - stand for but the RUF is one of the least coherent rebel movements in existence. If there is agreement on any one demand it is that its leader, Foday Sankoh, a former army photographer and corporal, be released from prison in the capital, Freetown. In his absence, the rebels are led by Mr Sam Bokarie, a former dancer and hairdresser. They are fed, funded and equipped by neighbouring Liberia where, in earlier years, they helped Mr Charles Taylor seize power.
The RUF is an abominable collection of mercenaries, murderers and rapists. It had a good run this month because there is virtually no Sierra Leone army to fight it, but ECOMOG, the west African force which supports the government, is a different matter. Last week it cleared Freetown of the rebels and restored some semblance of order - but only to Freetown.
The RUF may be unpopular, even in the countryside where it press-gangs children and teenagers to its cause, usually by first making them orphans. But its grip is strong and wide. It still controls over half the country and there is no possibility that the government, under a weak president in Mr Kabbah, will dislodge it. ECOMOG might but its resources may not last. It is mostly made up of Nigerian troops - one quarter of the Nigerian army. But at a million dollars a day, even Nigeria, itself on the way back to democracy and anxious to discourage the alternatives, cannot stay indefinitely.
The answer, however distasteful it may be, is for President Kabbah to sit down with the RUF and negotiate a peace settlement while there is still something left to save. Today's ceasefire presents an opportunity to open a humanitarian corridor and get food and medicine to the many that need it. President Kabbah should release Mr Sankoh to a neutral country which is his demand and, perhaps most importantly, President Taylor in Liberia should be encouraged, by whatever means, to cease acting as the RUF's quartermaster and force it to the negotiating table.