With the recent departure of United Nations forces serving in Sierra Leone, a contingent of Mongolian troops has been assigned to protect the Special Court set up to try those guilty of war crimes in the country over the past decade.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) recently wrapped up its work, handing the responsibility for guarding the Court to the neighbouring UN operation in Liberia (UNMIL).
"A battalion of some 250 Mongolian peacekeepers has taken over the protection of the Special Court for Sierra Leone," spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York today.
He added that the unit relieves a Nigerian battalion of blue helmets which will return home.
The UN-affiliated Special Court for Sierra Leone is mandated to try those "bearing the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian and Sierra Leonean laws" committed in the country's territory since 30 November 1996.
Among those who the Court is seeking to prosecute are former Liberian President Charles Taylor, now living in exile in Nigeria, and missing former Armed Forces Revolutionary Council of Sierra Leone commander Johnny Paul Koroma.