United Nations: Desperately needing help

UN troops: Caught in the middle

By UN correspondent Mark Devenport

Faced by increasing violence in Sierra Leone, the UN is hoping that that it can hold the line against the rebels of the RUF, responsible for abducting hundreds of UN peacekeepers, with the help of reinforcements from around the world.

Extra troops from India, Bangladesh and Jordan were due to be sent to Sierra Leone later this year, to bring the UN peacekeeping force up to its full strength of 11,100.

US officials have confirmed that Washington is ready to provide military transport planes to speed up the deployment of some of the extra peacekeepers.

After requests from the UN and the USA, Nigeria is also poised to send two additional battalions, each of them about 800 strong.

Nigeria's importance

The Nigerians will not be UN peacekeepers but will operate under their own national flag.

If the government in Lagos approves the plan, the return of the Nigerian battalions could have a significant psychological impact on the rebels in Sierra Leone.

Many observers believe that the RUF rebels seized on last week's departure of the Nigerian-led West African intervention force as an opportunity to gain ground.

Rebel commanders believed the Nigerian led force were tougher soldiers than their UN counterparts.

Paratroopers' role

In a bid to strengthen its peacekeeping mission still further, the UN has let it be known that it would welcome any move by Britain to modify the mandate of the Parachute regiment soldiers now in Sierra Leone to enable them to perform security duties beyond the evacuation of foreign nationals.

Senior UN official Shashi Tharoor told the BBC that once the evacuation had been completed the UN would welcome any move by Britain which would allow its soldiers to assist the peacekeepers and augment the UN's rapid reaction capacity in Sierra Leone.

The UN has delivered food and water to some of its detainees and evacuated some of those wounded in clashes with the rebels.

More than 200 non-essential UN staff are being flown out of the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown.

The UN still wants a political solution, pointing out that its peacekeepers were sent to Sierra Leone not to fight the rebels but to implement a peace agreement which rebel commanders had signed up to.

But the UN may have some difficulty instituting talks with the rebel leader Foday Sankoh.

There are reports that he left his house in Freetown as fighting broke out around it, and UN officials are not sure of his current whereabouts.