LOME, May 26 (AFP) - Sierra Leone's authorities have opposed a rebel call for a four-year transition government, ahead of a round of peace talks due between belligerents in the Togolese capital on Wednesday. According to a document outlining Freetown's position on bringing peace to Sierra Leone, where civil war has raged for more than eight years, the government said it "lacked the power" to set up a transitional authority. A demand for such a regime is the key proposal made by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), formed in 1991 and whose 10-member delegation is in Lome. The Freetown government has sent an eight-member delegation headed by Attorney General Solomon Berewa to the talks, which are being brokered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). "The government lacks the power to accede to the RUF's proposal for the setting up of a transitional government in place of the present government for a period of four years or for any other period," said the document, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. "The government itself is a creature of the 1991 constitution. It derives its powers and authority only from that constitution," the 13-page text added. The government also rejected a proposal for a new constitution, although it said it would consider amending the current one. Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister Sam Banya told AFP that the government must "remain firm on constitutional matters because that is what democracy and good governance is all about." "We can't just treat the law like a a piece of paper and throw it away anytime we like," he said. However, a foreign minister from one of the 16-member ECOWAS states grouping commented that Freetown's "constitutional arguments" demonstrated a "jurist mentality" which could jeopardise the peace effort. A western ambassador observing the talks said Sierra Leone government ministers were "skilled, British-trained lawyers." Freetown also rejected a call for the withdrawal of foreign troops, namely the Nigerian-led ECOMOG intervention force battling rebels in the name of ECOWAS. On the proposed release of rebel founding leader Foday Sankoh, the government said it would "not hesitate" to free him, but would only do so "within the judicial and constitutional process." President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has said that Sankoh, who was sentenced to death on treason charges in October, could be released only after his death sentence appeal is heard in court. The government also agreed that a proposal for amnesty for RUF members would be "examined," taking into "consideration gross human rights violations committed against the citizens of this country." Since launching their bush war in 1991, the RUF has killed, mutilated, raped and abducted hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. The government agreed that it would recognise the RUF as a legitimate political movement, a key provision in a peace accord signed in Abidjan in 1996. It called on the rebels to "abandon all forms of violence." It also said the RUF "should realise that the eight-year old conflict has devastated the entire infrastructure and economy (of Sierra Leone) and destroyed whole settlements now left in ruins." While a ceremony was held here on Tuesday to inaugurate the long-awaited talks, direct negotiations had still not begun on Wednesday morning. Togolese officials, along with those from the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity, were still discussing "mechanisms and procedures" for the meeting.  