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DATE=8/9/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S / SIERRA LEONE (L)
NUMBER=2-265302
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  Several hundred U-S military personnel could 
be on their way to West Africa to train and equip 
African troops who will be taking part in a United 
Nations peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone.  
Correspondent Nick Simeone reports on an effort to 
transform what had been a failing peacekeeping mission 
into one capable of restoring order throughout the 
war-torn nation.
TEXT:  Hundreds of soldiers from Nigeria, Ghana and a 
third, yet to be named, African country will be 
trained to keep the peace -- and fight if necessary -- 
in Sierra Leone.  State Department spokesman Richard 
Boucher does not rule out the possibility that in 
addition to the U-S training, they may receive 
American weapons as well.
            /// BOUCHER ACT ///
      Our goal is to ensure that the troops deployed 
      to Sierra Leone are properly trained in order to 
      accomplish their mission as swiftly as possible.
            /// END ACT ///
U-S military assessment teams have been in Ghana and 
Nigeria for a while now planning for the mission.  
White House Spokesman Joe Lockhart says several 
hundred more American trainers may be heading there as 
the project picks up pace.
            /// LOCKHART ACT ///
      There was an assessment group that went over.  
      That work now is complete and there will be a 
      limited number of troops that will go to Nigeria 
      to help train Nigerian forces.
            /// END ACT ///
But American military trainers will not go to Sierra 
Leone itself.  In fact, the United States has 
consistently ruled out sending U-S troops to the 
country despite pleas from United Nations Secretary 
General Kofi Annan for more support.  For several 
years, the Clinton administration has been involved in 
what is known as the African Crisis Response 
Initiative -- sending military advisors to Africa to 
train the continent's own armies to intervene in 
situations like Sierra Leone's.
U-S officials deny the stepped-up training of West 
African soldiers amounts to a shift in policy.  But it 
does reflect administration thinking that following 
the death's of 19 American soldiers in Somalia seven 
years ago, U-S military intervention in Africa - if it 
takes place at all -- would be limited.   (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/JP
09-Aug-2000 16:05 PM LOC (09-Aug-2000 2005 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.