FREETOWN, May 26 (AFP) - A ceasefire in ravaged Sierra Leone seemed to be holding good on Wednesday, with scenes of fraternisation seen among foes not far from the capital, government officials and witnesses said. Since rebel attacks in several parts of the west African country on Monday, calm has prevailed for two days as leaders of the rival sides went into substantive peace talks in Lome, Togo, after eight years of conflict. "There is a semblance of quietness so far," one official said Wednesday. On Monday, rebels had notably attacked the outskirts of Kenema, about 300 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of the capital, striking at Nigerian-led ECOMOG intervention troops. Dozens of rebels and ECOMOG personnel, deployed to back President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, on Tuesday held a confidence-building meeting on lush green fields around Okro Hill, some 65 kilometres (40 miles) east of the capital. Witnesses said that fighters from both sides smiled broadly and clenched hands, declaring, "Peace, peace, peace." Observers from the United Nations looked on awestruck, some witnesses said. Many of the rebels, including six child soldiers, were weighed down by AK-47 assault rifles and other arms. They advanced out of the bush, shy, nervous and bolstering their morale by singing a gospel song, "Have Faith in God." The commanding officer of ECOMOG's western area, Colonel Rauf Akpata, welcomed the group, calling their act "courageous." The rebels, armed to the teeth, included officers who had ranked themselves from lieutenant to brigadier. Akpata told them, "Since you are chanting about peace, why not consider joining your friends and relations in the capital once and for all." A rebel leader, Lieutenant-Colonel George Johnson, looking suspiciously around, said they were meeting ECOMOG as a confidence-building measure and to institute proper arrangements for observing the ceasefire arrangement. "We are not going to violate the ceasefire and we are even ready to free all prisoners of war as well as abductees after the government releases theirs," he said. Johnson called for humanitarian assistance to be provided for their prisoners and abductees, whom he said included Guineans, Nigerians and Malians. Another rebel, Brigadier Ibrahim Sesay, said, "Let the world know that we have been looking out for peace long ago." "We support the reopening of the Freetown-Port Loko-Kambia highway (leading to the far north) and the Freetown-Makeni-Kono highway (to the east)," he added. Observers said that if such a trend continues, there could be hopes for sustainable peace in the country, which first plunged into conflict with the emergence of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in 1991. -=-=- 