In May 2001, sanctions were imposed on Liberia for its support for the rebels, and U.N. peacekeepers began to make headway in disarming the various factions.
Although disarmament of rebel and progovernment militias proceeded slowly and fighting continued to occur, by January 2002 most of the estimated 45,000 fighters had surrendered their weapons.
[1] President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was reelected, and his Sierra Leone People's Party won a 83 of the 112 parliamentary seats.
Foday Sankoh, already in custody, was indicted, along with notorious RUF field commander Sam Bockarie, Johnny Paul Koroma, and Samuel Hinga Norman, the Minister of Interior and former head of the Civil Defence Forces, among several others.
Elections held on August 11, 2007 had a good turnout and were initially judged by official observers to be "free, fair and credible".