SIERRA LEONE.

Security Council Mission to the Region

Deciding to review the situation in Sierra Leone by 31 October, the Security Council on 20 September extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) until 31 December 2000. On 7 October, the Council dispatched a high-level mission, headed by Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, to five States in the West African region to look into ways of ensuring the full application of its resolutions and enhancing the effectiveness of UNAMSIL. Backing the efforts of the Sierra Leonean Government, the mission reviewed the progress made in implementing the Lome Peace Agreement. The 11-member delegation also considered the regional dimensions of the crisis, including its humanitarian aspects, as well as working with the leaders of the neighbouring States and the Economic Community of West African States to promote a lasting solution to the conflict.

In its report, released on 17 October, the high-level mission recommended that the United Nations bolster its peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone. The complex of problems in the Sierra Leone conflict, which according to the report had an increasingly alarming" impact on the region, represented "an extraordinary challenge, which requires extraordinary action". The mission supported strengthening UNAMSIL "in terms of numbers, effectiveness and capability", as recommended by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. In his latest report, Mr. Annan had called for increasing UNAMSIL's authorized strength from 13,000 to 20,500 military personnel.

As part of its effort to examine the regional dimensions of the Sierra Leone conflict, the delegation focused on the role played by Liberian President Charles Taylor. "The view was firmly and frequently expressed within Sierra Leone that the cause of many of the country's problems lay in the support provided to the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) by President Taylor, motivated partly by his own political and security concerns and partly by his interest in profits from diamonds mined in Sierra Leone," the report stated, while noting that President Taylor "vigorously" denied these accusations. On the special war crimes court for Sierra Leone, the mission called for striking the right balance "between the requirements of justice and the need to minimize any potential disincentive to entering the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process that the threat of prosecution may represent--especially to child combatants".

In his 28 August status report, Mr. Annan noted that the priority tasks for UNAMSIL included restructuring the peacekeeping force, strengthening its headquarters, equipping infantry battalions and boosting deployment at areas close to RUF positions. As of 31 August, the Mission had 12,477 military personnel. On 14 September, the Secretary-General said the proposed boosting of UNAMSIL would annually cost more than $780 million. "The presence of a robust and determined peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone should be part of a strategy to induce armed groups to disarm, in combination with strong incentives for their reintegration into Sierra Leone society", he said. On 21 September, the Government of India indicated that it would withdraw its 3,059 soldiers from UNAMSIL. On 31 August, the RUF under its new leader, Issa Sesay, returned six armoured personnel carriers seized from Zambian peacekeepers in May. Since November 1999, more than 17,800 former combatants of all the various armed groups have turned in their weapons to UN troops.