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Rival Plainfield Gangs Call Truce In Summit At IHOP Ending A Violent 18-Month Feud

PLAINFIELD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Gang leaders in Plainfield have announced a truce to an 18-month feud that has claimed 15 lives.

Five men with ties to two of Plainfield's most powerful gangs held a summit at the International House of Pancakes. Tayir Pugh said they were doing it for the kids and the community because they're sick of the violence.

The men said the children in the neighborhood look up to them and they want to set the right example.

They gathered later at City Hall and promised Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs the violence would stop.

"They seemed really seriously into thinking that gang violence needs to ends," Robinson-Briggs told the Star-Ledger. "It sounds like they're tired as we're tired as well. I have confidence in what they were saying. They believe that we need to return to being a unified community."

Robinson-Briggs called the gathering a "monumental'' occasion.

Members of the group agreed to join the mayor at an anti-violence rally Friday night.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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