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British troops to remain in Sierra Leone

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January 2, 2001 

LONDON (AP) — British troops will remain in Sierra Leone until the war against the West African state's rebel army is resolved, the commanding officer of the British contingent said Monday.

Brig. Jonathan Riley told the British Broadcasting Corp. that British forces could expect to remain in Sierra Leone at their present levels until the end of 2001, and then be scaled down considerably.

When British troops first went into Sierra Leone in May, their official mission was to help evacuate British nationals.

``We will leave when the war is either won or resolved on favorable terms,'' Riley said. ``My reading of the situation of the rebels is that they are not in a good way and their situation is getting worse. ... I think the end is in sight.''

Government-held areas were peaceful over Christmas, a fact local people ascribed to the presence of British troops, Riley said.

Riley said more than 6,000 of the 10,500 Sierra Leone troops the British contingent aimed to train had completed their training.

The Revolutionary United Front rebels have killed tens of thousands of civilians and maimed, raped and kidnapped many more since launching a campaign nine years ago to overthrow the government and secure the country's lucrative diamond mines.

The rebels have signed and discarded three peace accords since starting their war in 1991. The collapse of an accord in May brought a buildup of United Nations peacekeepers and the deployment of hundreds of British troops to advise the Sierra Leone army.

But since then, two of the main contributors to the U.N. force — India and Jordan — have begun pulling out, and the United Nations has searched for replacements.