New York, Freetown - The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, called yesterday for a rapid reaction force to aid peacekeepers in Sierra Leone and authorised the evacuation of 266 UN civilian staff from the West African nation.
Some 500 UN peacekeepers are missing or have been taken hostage by the rebel Revolutionary United Front, 400 of them Zambians. On Monday at least four people were reported dead in a shoot-out around the home of the RUF leader, Mr Foday Sankoh, in the capital of Freetown.
A UN spokesman, Mr Fred Eckhard, blamed the incident on RUF members firing at demonstrations. Witnesses said at least four people were killed outside Mr Sankoh's house after his supporters fired into a crowd of protesters who had marched on it to demand peace.
Mr Eckhard said 266 UN staff would be pulled out of Sierra Leone, but 55 civilian staff would remain.
So fare, the US, Britain, France and other European nations have not responded to earlier appeals for a rapid reaction force. But Mr Eckhard said only western nations had the capability of mounting such a force quickly.
Britain has 200 paratroopers in Sierra Leone to evacuate some 500 of its citizens. Another 200 paratroops are flying in directly from Britain.