ECOWAS Ministers Condemn Recruitment of Child Soldiers Paris AFP (World Service) in English 1343 GMT 25 Mar 99 AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE Thursday, March 25, 1999 Journal Code: 2131 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT Document Type: Daily Report; News Word Count: 189 DAKAR, March 25 (AFP) -- Foreign ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have spoken out strongly against the recruitment of children to fight in armed conflicts in west Africa. "We strongly condemn any recruitment of children among groups of combatants," they said in a declaration adopted late Wednesday following a meeting in the Malian capital Bamako on applying an ECOWAS moratorium on the use of light arms. The ministers called on armed groups to "demobilize (recruited children) immediately and provide them with appropriate structures for their reintegration" into society. Regarding the moratorium, the ministers recommended "the training of armed forces for a culture of peace, stricter controls at border posts (and) the rounding up and destruction of illegally held arms." According to estimates by the 16-member ECOWAS, some 15 million light arms are circulating in west Africa, or about one for every 25 inhabitants.