UNAMSIL reaches full capacity

The arrival of the last contingent of UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone last week, has brought the UN Mission in Sierra Leone(UNAMSIL) to its authorised ceiling of 17,500 troops, a UN official told IRIN on Monday.

The Nepali peacekeepers, which make up an 800-strong battalion, arrived last week in the capital, Freetown, and are due to be deployed to Moyamba District in southern Sierra Leone. "All 800 will go to key areas in Moyamba including DDR reception centres and UNAMSIL facilities," the UN official said.

UNAMSIL Force Commander Lt-Gen Daniel Opande welcomed the troops on Sunday saying peacekeepers had been stretched "to the limit" as they oversaw the disarmament of combatants, AP reported. Sierra Leone is now entering the last phase of its disarmament programme but logistical problems in the east of the country are likely to extend it beyond its target date of 30 November and into December, sources in Freetown said.

"In some parts of Kenema and Kailahun (the last two districts to disarm) there are logistical problems. Some of the roads have been washed away and we might have to resort to airlifting combatants from inaccessible areas," Francis Kai-Kai, head of the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR), told IRIN on Tuesday. "We are currently discussing with UNAMSIL how best to address the difficulties," Kaikai added. Kailahun, a former rebel stronghold in the diamond mining distrtict, was occupied by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) throughout the 10-year civil war.

A total of 35,457 combatants including 3,834 children, have disarmed since 1 January, UNAMSIL said on Monday. Disarmament, as agreed under the 1999 Lome Peace Accord, was interrrupted temporarily in May 2000 following a resumption of hostilities between the RUF and the government. A ceasefire accord was signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja in November 2000.