UN team meets Sierra Leone junta

United Nations officials have had talks with the military government of Sierra Leone about possible delays in implementing last year's agreement to return the country to civilian rule.

The head of the UN team, Francis Okello, told the BBC that the government had expressed a number of concerns; these included disarmament issues and the role of Nigeria within the regional peacekeping force, ECOMOG.

Mr Okello said he would tell the UN secretary-general, Koffi Annan, about these concerns.

But he insisted that the goal remained a tranfer of power to civilians by April.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service