220 U.N. troops leave Sierra Leone

UNITED NATIONS, MAY 10. In yet another setback for U.N. peacekeeping operation, 220 U.N. troops withdrew from Sierra Leone amid fears of an imminent rebel attack even as African leaders warned that any attempt to overthrow the Government in the strife-torn nation would be dealt with military force.

With over 500 U.N. peacekeepers still held hostage, the contingent of 220 Nigerian and Guinean soldiers retreated from Masiaka, 65 km east of Freetown, when they came under attack from unidentified gunmen.

``The contingent of 220 soldiers retreated after exhausting their ammunition in exchange of fire with the gunmen,'' a spokesman of the U.N. mission in Sierra Leone said even as the U.S. offered to airlift the Bangladeshi contingent, and was considering helping to transport Jordanian and Indian units. The U.N. spokesman, Mr. Fred Eckhard, said Russia had indicated it might help in the peacekeeping operation.

The U.N. hopes to round out the 11,100-member force to help reinforce the embattled 8,700 peacekeepers who have come under fire by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front in clashes that have resulted in the detention of the U.N. troops.

In Abuja, Nigeria, leaders of nine African states yesterday warned they would use military force to stop an overthrow of the Government in Sierra Leone saying they could re- deploy the West African intervention force Ecomog to end the crisis.

A communique issued at the end of the meeting stressed that the leaders were determined to use all necessary means ``including the military option, to foil any attempt to take over power through the use of force.''

Town recaptured

Meanwhile, the pro-government troops have recaptured the strategic town of Masiaka, killing 20 RUF rebels, said the military chief, Mr. Johnny Paul Koroma, today.

Mr. Koroma, a former junta chief who has rallied to the President, Mr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, announced on a private radio station that the army and ex-junta soldiers had taken back Masiaka, 65 km east of the capital. The government troops also seized a vehicle and a large quantity of ammunition, he said.

Mr. Koroma said pro-government forces were now advancing north to Lunsar, on the road to the rebel stronghold town of Makeni. Mr. Koroma led the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council that took power in May, 1997 before being ousted by the Nigerian-led Ecomog force, which has handed over to the U.N. peacekeeping mission Unamsil.

- PTI, AFP

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