ABIDJAN, 13 October (IRIN) - A UN
Security Council team has completed its visit of Sierra Leone and said
it would return to New York with "some important decisions" to
make regarding the future of the UN peacekeeping mission there.
The team is on a tour of five West African
countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali and Nigeria - to determine
how to improve security in the region and the work of the UN Observer Mission
in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).
"The Security Council has some important decisions coming up on the future shape, mandate and structure of UNAMSIL, and our determination to make this operation as effective, capable and robust as possible has been reinforced by this visit," Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, who led the 11-member mission, told reporters in Freetown on Thursday.
He said the complex problems facing Sierra Leone could only be addressed through a comprehensive strategy supported by long-term international assistance. UNAMSIL currently has about 12,500 troops and efforts are underway to boost that number to 20,500. Most are stationed in the capital, Freetown, and vast areas of the countryside remain under control of Revolutionary United Front fighters.
"We would like to see Sierra Leoneans, under their government, increasingly taking the lead in stabilising and regenerating their country," Greenstock said.
British forces are training Sierra Leonean soldiers and British officials have offered to provide a rapid-reaction force of 5,000 troops.
[ENDS]
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