The Security Council voted Friday to extend the United Nations force in Sierra Leone until September 8 while UN officials prepare recommendations to strengthen and restructure it. The force, known as UNAMSIL, is close to its authorized ceiling of 13,000 soldiers, and is by far the largest of the organisation's 14 current peacekeeping operations. But UNAMSIL's Indian Force Commander, Major-General Vijay Kumar Jetley, told reporters that he had asked the council for "many more troops" to bolster his defences against heavily armed rebels in Sierra Leone. A resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15 council members, said attacks on UNAMSIL by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) had "revealed serious inherent weaknesses in the mission's structure, command and control and resources." The RUF had taken hundreds of peacekeepers hostage in May and immobilised hundreds more before releasing them in batches over two months. UNAMSIL was sent to Sierra Leone to support a peace agreement signed by the government, the RUF and other rebel groups on July 7, 1999, after an exceptionally brutal eight-year civil war. The RUF attacked when peacekeepers began to supervise the disarming and demobilisation of an estimated 45,000 ex-combatants. UNAMSIL's mandate was due to expire on Monday. Extending it until September 8, the Security Council asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to report back "as soon as possible" with proposals for restructuring and strengthening the force. UN officials said they expected Annan to do so in about two weeks.
Report : Zeenext Bureau