Rebels demand Sankoh release

Mr Sankoh was captured in Freetown two days ago

Sierra Leone's rebel Revolutionary United Front say they will fight rather than negotiate unless their leader, Foday Sankoh, is released.

Mr Sankoh was captured by Sierra Leone police in the capital on Wednesday - a week after he fled his Freetown home when rebels shot and killed 19 people protesting at the capture of UN peacekeepers.

The rebels' announcement came as the UN Security Council voted to enlarge its beleagured peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone.

The United Kingdom is to provide further assistance in the form of a training programme for Sierra Leone's own army.

We will answer force with force and dialogue with dialogue

Gibril Massakoi
RUF spokesman

RUF spokesman Gibril Massakoi demanded Mr Sankoh be set free. He said the rebels would not "sit back and watch" if their leadership was put on trial.

A number of other senior RUF members have been taken into government custody.

Mr Massakoi told the French AFP news agency: "We will answer force with force and dialogue with dialogue.

"We want to go back to the negotiating table to make sure that all parties comply with what they signed."

Mr Massakoi said the RUF was committed to the 1999 Lome peace accord, which granted rebels full amnesty for horrific atrocities committed during the brutal eight-year civil war, and gave their leader vice-presidential status in a power-sharing government.

More soldiers

The UN Security Council voted on Friday to increase the size of its peacekeeping mission to 13,000 troops.

Nearly half the detained 500 UN troops have escaped or been set free

Diplomats said Secretary-General Kofi Annan favoured an even larger force, eventually numbering 16,500 soldiers.

The force, already the largest UN peacekeeping mission, is currently authorised to have 11,100 troops.

But India, Bangladesh and Jordan have already promised troops whose presence would bring the size of the force over that limit by the weekend.

The rebels' capture of hundreds of UN troops early in May signalled the start of the latest crisis in Sierra Leone.

British training

A British army spokesman said the task of the proposed UK training team would be to create a new, effective army to protect Sierra Leone's elected government.

The training programme is in addition to the British task force of paratroopers and marines already engaged in Sierra Leone.

The Sierra Leone army has in the past been one of the most ill-disciplined and corrupt military forces in Africa.

Maximum alert

Shortly before the demand for Mr Sankoh's release, British paratroopers at a forward outpost were put on maximum alert after reports emerged of threatened rebel attacks.

Mr Sankoh was last seen in public at Freetown airport, protected by British soldiers, but technically in the custody of the Sierra Leone police. He is currently being held at an undisclosed location.

Some senior RUF members are also in government hands, while others have fled to rebel strongholds inland.

Mr Sankoh had been condemned to death for treason but the conviction was lifted after he signed the peace deal last year.

The BBC's Mark Doyle in Freetown says the demand for the release of Mr Sankoh will put the UN in a difficult position.

It earlier expressed concern at the condition of about 300 of its peacekeepers, apparently still being held by the rebels, after Liberia's president said between 30 and 40 were wounded.

The RUF, however, says it is not holding the peacekeepers hostage and will facilitate their passage to safety in neighbouring Liberia - which has fostered close relations with the rebels - if they find them.

Another 13 peacekeepers have now returned to Freetown. These are the first of 80 who were reportedy allowed to cross into Liberia on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether US peace envoy Jesse Jackson will visit Sierra Leone.

The Sierra Leone Government was angered by comments he made which have been perceived as sympathetic to Mr Sankoh.

But arriving in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on Friday, Mr Jackson said it would be a "huge mistake" for the rebels to link the release of their hostages to that of Mr Sankoh.

"All the hostages should be freed and freed now. There is no basis for delay, there is no basis for negotiation," Mr Jackson told reporters