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| Leone poll peace rally cancelled | Leone poll peace rally cancelled |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A joint peace rally between the two candidates in Sierra Leone's presidential run-off on Saturday has been called off. | A joint peace rally between the two candidates in Sierra Leone's presidential run-off on Saturday has been called off. |
| The event was planned to ease tensions after clashes between rival supporters in recent weeks. | The event was planned to ease tensions after clashes between rival supporters in recent weeks. |
| But opposition candidate Ernest Koroma said he had concerns about the safety of the event, while Vice-President Solomon Berewa also refused to attend. | But opposition candidate Ernest Koroma said he had concerns about the safety of the event, while Vice-President Solomon Berewa also refused to attend. |
| Sierra Leone is slowly recovering from a brutal, decade-long civil war. | Sierra Leone is slowly recovering from a brutal, decade-long civil war. |
| The two rivals agreed a peace deal last weekend, which was supposed to culminate in the joint rally, at which they would sit in the same vehicle, travelling around the streets of the capital, Freetown. | The two rivals agreed a peace deal last weekend, which was supposed to culminate in the joint rally, at which they would sit in the same vehicle, travelling around the streets of the capital, Freetown. |
| But spokesman for Mr Koroma's All People's Congress (APC) Alpha Kanu said opposition supporters were "being harassed and intimidated, so to get marching for peace is a really whitewash." | |
| "For now the APC is not going to march until all the conditions laid out in the peace pact are fulfilled," he told the AFP news agency. | |
| In the first round on 11 August, Mr Koroma took 44% of the vote to Mr Berewa's 38%. | In the first round on 11 August, Mr Koroma took 44% of the vote to Mr Berewa's 38%. |