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Secretary-General recommends bigger deployment

    ABIDJAN

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended an increase of the peacekeeping force to 16,500 military personnel, including 260 observers, in a report to the UN Security Council, released on Monday.

    Once the additional forces have arrived, UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard said on Monday, it would be appropriate to consider additional steps which may involve a strengthening of the force above the new proposed ceiling.

    He also said the Security Council might wish to consider tougher sanctions, including measures that should prevent the RUF from benefiting from the illegal exploitation of mineral resources and in particular, diamonds.

    “I think we’ll be looking at the situation in Sierra Leone very, very critically to see what we can do to bring the diamond industry under government control,” Annan said on arrival at UN headquarters on Monday.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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