Britain urges Sankoh isolation

Foday Sankoh surrounded by jubilant captors

Britain is insisting that the captured rebel, Foday Sankoh, must not be allowed back into Sierra Leone's Government.

The Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, added that Britain was considering a request from that country's government for ammunition supplies.

He confirmed that Britain's plan was to keep its troops in Sierra Leone only until United Nations reinforcements arrive.

He's responsible for the recent upsurge in violence

Geoff Hoon

Foday Sankoh, leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front blamed for breaking a peace deal, was arrested last Tuesday.

Mr Hoon told the BBC's Breakfast With Frost programme that although British forces had helped move Sankoh after his arrest, his fate rested with Sierra Leone's Government.

"It's a matter for them to decide what should happen to him next," he said.

The minister added: "But obviously we would be concerned that he should no longer have any kind of an influence over Sierra Leone.

"He was the one who broke the peace accord, he's responsible for the recent upsurge in violence."

Mr Hoon said Britain had discussed a request for more ammunition with Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and was checking it "very carefully".

We are not entering into the combat situation there

Geoff Hoon

He declined to specify exactly when British forces would leave Sierra Leone, where hundreds of UN peacekeepers remain rebel hostages.

However, he expressed confidence that the UN force "will be properly reinforced very quickly".

The minister added: "We are not entering into the combat situation there. We have made it clear that our forces are there for a specific purpose - to secure and make safe the airport both for evacuation and reinforcement by the United Nations."

An estimated 700 crack British paratroopers are in the former colony, bolstering 9,000 United Nations peacekeepers trying to disarm rebel fighters and implement a 1999 peace treaty.

Mr Hoon said military help and advice would continue even after Paras now on the ground pulled out.

"For some time we have had advisers present," he said. " "That is something we will continue."