ECOMOG not to withdraw fully

Around half the remaining ECOMOG troops will stay in Sierra Leone until the UN force, UNAMSIL, reaches full strength, presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN on Wednesday.

"I think some have already left," he said.

However, he said a Nigerian armoured battalion would soon arrive to join UNAMSIL. Nigeria, which provides the bulk of the West African peacekeeping force known as ECOMOG, said late in 1999 it would pull out all its troops by February. However, it agreed to a 90-day extension to allow the 11,000 UN force time to deploy fully.

Local newspapers have been voicing concern over the proposed pull-out of ECOMOG saying that it would cause a security vacuum in the country, AP reported on Wednesday. One such incident took place at the weekend when UN troops in the eastern town of Kenema came under fire from unknown assailants. UNAMSIL is investigating the incident.

UNAMSIL currently has 7,391 personnel including 260 military observers in Freetown, Lungi, Port Loko, Lunsar, Masiaka, Makeni, Magburaka, Kenema, Daru, Mile 91, Bo and Moyamba, according to a March report by the Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU).

However, UNAMSIL has been unable to deploy to the eastern town of Kono despite recent and regular missions by military observers. Reports indicate an increasing concentration of Revolutionary United Front forces in parts of Koinadugu and Kono districts, HACU said.