UN helps efforts to free UK soldiers held by Sierra Leone rebels
28 August -- The United Nations said today its Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was making every effort to assist the British Government and the local authorities in ending the detention of a group of soldiers, including 11 Britons and one Sierra Leonean, by rebel troops known as the West Side Boys.
According to the UN Mission in Freetown, the detainees were in good condition and were being treated well as negotiations continued to gain their release.
In New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this morning that he was expecting the soldiers to be released "in the near future." Speaking to reporters on his arrival at UN Headquarters, he also noted that the United Nations was taking steps to strengthen peacekeeping units to enable them to defend themselves and their mandate.
"I think we cannot ignore or condone this tendency in Sierra Leone for rebels to take peacekeepers hostage," the Secretary-General said. "I think the rebels have to be careful not to go around believing that it is easy to take peacekeepers as hostages because they do have robust rules of engagement and they are going to be defending themselves."
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