UN to downsize troop presence from December

The United Nations is to start downsizing its military presence in Sierra Leone in December, the UN force Commander, Lt-Gen Daniel Ishmael Opande, told IRIN on Thursday.

The force is the largest UN military mission in the world, consisting of 17,500 troops and military observers from more than 37 countries. Another 322 international and 552 national civilian staff work within the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

"I have some ideas on how the downsizing will occur, but it is not yet finalized," Opande said. "We hope to start withdrawing the troops from December. It will be a phased withdrawal to avoid creating a security vacuum in Sierra Leone, but will depend on the situation in the country.”

As part of preparations for eventual downsizing, the UN secretariat dispatched a military team to Sierra Leone from 9 to 14 June to help UNAMSIL draw up the withdrawal proposals.

At a meeting with local leaders in Kenema district on Thursday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative to Sierra Leone, Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, said the UN wanted Sierra Leoneans to "start taking the lead" from now.

"The UN is looking forward to a period when the Sierra Leoneans take the front seat, to a reversal of roles with the UN taking the back seat," Adeniji told the local leaders. "For a number of programmes now, the international community would like you to take the lead."

Annan told the UN Security Council on 19 June that he intended to submit in September detailed proposals on reducing and eventually ending the UN troop presence in Sierra Leone. "A crucial element in planning the anticipated adjustments in UNAMSIL is the strengthening of the capacities, accountability and loyalties of both the police and army of Sierra Leone, in order to avoid a vacuum," Annan said.