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DATE=5/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N SIERRA LEONE REPORT (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262655
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended 
another increase Monday in the size of the U-N 
peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone.  V-O-A 
Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from the United 
Nations.  
TEXT:  With an authorized strength of 13-thousand 
troops, the force in Sierra Leone is already the 
largest U-N peacekeeping operation.  In a report to 
the Security Council, Mr. Annan says the number of 
troops in that West African nation should rise to 16-
thousand-five-hundred.
That would be the third increase in the Sierra Leone 
force, and the Secretary-General's spokesman, Fred 
Eckhard, says it may not be the last.
                  /// ECKHARD ACT ///
      Once the additional forces have arrived, it 
      would be appropriate to consider additional 
      steps such as increasing the force above the new 
      proposed ceiling.  He [Mr. Annan] notes that the 
      U-N will have to draw lessons from the 
      experiences in Sierra Leone.  The force, which 
      he says was designed, equipped and deployed as a 
      peacekeeping force, was quickly forced into 
      actual combat with one of the parties that had 
      pledged to cooperate with it.
                   /// END ACT ///
The "party" mentioned by the U-N spokesman is, of 
course, the Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday 
Sankoh.  After Mr. Sankoh's forces fought with U-N 
peacekeepers and had taken hundreds of them hostage, 
he himself was taken into custody by the Sierra Leone 
government.  His future is unclear, but Secretary-
General Annan has told reporters he believes Mr. 
Sankoh has forfeited his right to share in the peace 
process.
                  /// ANNAN ACT ///
      I believe that, by his behavior, he has excluded 
      himself from the process. I do not see how one 
      can consider him part of any peace process in 
      Sierra Leone.
                  /// END ACT ///
Mr. Annan also says steps must be taken to ensure that 
Sierra Leone's diamond resources are  not  used to 
fund the military activities of the Revolutionary 
United Front.   (Signed) 
NEB/BA/LSF/WTW
22-May-2000 15:43 PM EDT (22-May-2000 1943 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.