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afrol.com, 30 September - The reports of small victories of the UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) keep ticking in. Heavy weapon, earlier lost to the RUF terrorists, is being handed over and the "West Side Boys" are disintegrating. However, forceful critics of the UNAMSIL leadership has made it difficult to recruit peacekeepers. Now that India is pulling out, the situation might become critical. Yesterday, UNAMSIL spokesman Hirut Befecadu in Sierra Leone told the press about the the latest UN successes in Sierra Leone. UNAMSIL’s equipment had been handed over by the RUF. "The return of additional captured UNAMSIL’s equipment by the RUF is a significant step towards the peace process. We believe that further initiatives for the return of all captured weapons and equipment are expected from the RUF," the spokesman said. Further, another four "West Side Boys" had presented themselves to the Nigerian Battalion in Port Loko. They brought with them heavy weapons. "We would also like to indicate that 155 "West Side Boys" were screened and demobilized. This process will continue as this will encourage their counterparts to come forward," Hirut Befecadu told the press. Meanwhile, there are made great efforts by the UN to secure further recruitment to the UNAMSIL. It has been difficult to recruit troops for a long time, but the withdrawal of India make the situation more acute. India has the second largest contingent in the 12.447-strong UN Mission. It has notified the UN that it will gradually withdraw its 3.059 men. India's decision has sent the UN scrambling to find replacements as well as additional troops to bring UNAMSIL's troop strength to 20.500. The latest day-to-day successes have not been enough to repair the huge image problem of the entire operation. Surprisingly, the human risks, after various kidnapping operations by the terrorists, is not the biggest problem for potential contributing nations. Norwegian Army senior commander Ole-Gerhard Røn summed up the critics in stating that the UNAMSIL leadership was incompetent. The UN Secretary-General presently is negotiating with Canada, Turkey and Norway for their contribution of troops to the peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone. A statement on these talks is expected tomorrow. No one is too optimistic though. In August, afrol.com reported about the Norwegian Army's position. Norwegian Army senior commander Ole-Gerhard Røn had sent a letter to the Minister of Defence, Bjørn Godal, strongly criticizing the unarmed UN mission of observers to Sierra Leone. The conclusions of the officer were that Norway should pull out the few personnel it had in Sierra Leone. The letter states these reasons:
Hopes for a greater commitment among Western powers thus are low. Therefore, there is an initiative to further increase the African participation. On Thursday, Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim asked OAU member states to provide troops for the UNAMSIL. In his statement, released by the OAU secretariat in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Salim said "a serious gap" would be created when India pulled out its forces. While India is leaving and the recruitment is slowing down, there is a risk of other nations pulling out of the operation, already suffering from the lack of sufficient staff. Jordan has also threatened to leave unless a NATO country is brought into UNAMSIL. Britain, a NATO member and former colonial power in Sierra Leone, is already retraining the country's new army. The operation in Sierra Leone is the largest ever undertaken by the United Nations.
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