Rebels free more U.N. forces

FREETOWN, MAY 28. Sierra Leone rebels have released another batch of United Nations peacekeepers they have been holding hostage as West African leaders discussed sending more troops to help the beleaguered U.N. force.

The United Nations spokesman, Mr. David Wimhurst, said 143 more peacekeepers arrived in Freetown from Liberia on Saturday - leaving only 112 still in the hands of Foday Sankoh's Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

``We are hopeful that there will be more releases very soon, particularly with the meeting in Abuja,'' Mr. Wimhurst told Reuters in Freetown. ``Our efforts are concentrated on getting all of them released.''

More than 500 peacekeepers were taken hostage almost four weeks ago when a 1999 peace accord designed to end eight years of brutal war in the west African country collapsed.

Presidents of seven regional states met in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Saturday and the economic community of West African states was expected to approve sending 3,000 more soldiers to Sierra Leone as a regional intervention force as well as extra troops to bolster the hard-pressed U.N. team.

Nigerian military chiefs are considering taking a much more offensive role than in the past, to dislodge the rebels from Sierra Leone's diamond mines close to the Liberian border which help fund the war.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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