Global Policy Forum

Annan Wants UN Mission in Sierra Leone Phased Out

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By Irwin Arieff

AlertNet
May 6, 2005

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone should be phased out by the end of 2005 now that the West African nation is generally calm and secure, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday. In a report to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, he recommended a final extension, through Dec. 31, of the mandate of the mission, which now numbers about 3,400 U.N. troops and international police.

Some 50,000 people were killed in a decade-long civil war in the impoverished but diamond-rich nation of about 5.4 million people. The conflict, which fizzled out in late 2001, pitted government forces and militias against rebels who seized diamond-mining areas and traded the gems they reaped for arms.

The U.N. mission in Sierra Leone, established in October 1999, was once the world body's biggest peacekeeping force, numbering more than 17,000 troops. Annan said while the security situation remained fragile and the country still needed considerable international assistance, that could best be accomplished at this stage by the government with help from U.N. agencies and other countries rather than a peacekeeping operation.

He recommended a drawdown of U.N. troops begin in August and be "essentially completed" by Dec. 31. In the meantime, he called on the government to "make full use of the unique window of opportunity" provided by the mission's continuing presence to beef up the country's military and police forces.

More Information on the Security Council
More Information on Sierra Leone

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FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.