Nigeria has stopped the withdrawal of its peacekeeping troops from Sierra Leone, where they're helping the United Nations enforce a peace agreement.

About a third of the ten-thousand man force has already been pulled out, but an Ecomog spokesman said the rest would now stay.

Senior Nigerian officials said the decision follows appeals from the United Nations and the Sierra Leone to President Olusegun Obasanjo.

They said the troops will stay for another three months to allow the United Nations time to fully deploy its own force.

The BBC West Africa Correspondent says the decision should improve the prospects that the peace agreement between the government and the rebels, can hold.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service