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Sierra Leone

Rebels block UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone

Rebels in Sierra Leone Thursday blocked a group of United Nations peacekeepers on patrol in the eastern part of the country, according to a UN spokesman in New York.
Two companies from Ghana and India were stopped by about 300 rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) at a location between Kenema and Daru.

The rebels were "tactically deployed" on high ground above the UN troops and were heavily armed, the spokesman said. Their weapons included rocket-propelled grenades.

The UN mission in Sierra Leone said it had contacted a former RUF officer, who is now a member of the Government and who happened to be in the area. Reportedly, he has gone to the scene in an effort to help resolve the stand-off.