Britain prepares Sierra Leone force

HMS Ocean is expected to be ordered to Sierra Leone

The British government is drawing up plans to send 500 more troops and a naval task force to Sierra Leone after pleas for support from the United Nations.

The helicopter carrier HMS Ocean is expected to be ordered back to the region on Monday by Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

On board will be around 500 troops from 42 Royal Marine Commando and HMS Ocean is expected to be accompanied by two other warships and support vessels.

UN is calling for more help from UK forces

The task-force - the Amphibious Ready Group - is at present on exercises in the Mediterranean and could reach the West African coast within days.

According to BBC Radio 4's Today programme plans to send the task-force "are at a very advanced stage".

The move - which is expected to be announced in a few days - follows decisions by Jordan and India to withdraw their troops from the former British colony.

The UN has previously asked Britain to allow its soldiers to play a direct role in containing Revolutionary United Front forces in Sierra Leone.

But defence ministry sources in London are stressing the troops will remain offshore as a rapid reaction force in the event of serious unrest.

Again our servicemen and women are paying the price of Robin Cook's failed foreign policy in Sierra Leone

Shadow defence secretary Iain Duncan Smith

Shadow defence secretary Iain Duncan Smith warned that the government was risking "dragging our military deeper and deeper into the mess and muddle of Sierra Leone."

"Again our servicemen and women are paying the price of Robin Cook's failed foreign policy in Sierra Leone," he said.

Mr Smith called on Mr Cook to disclose any "private deals" he has with the UN and Sierra Leone.

"His policies in Sierra Leone change from day to day but our armed forces involvement increases week to week," said Mr Smith.

"He is using our servicemen and women to bail him out of this mess."

Taken hostage

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We cannot say anything until a decision has been announced."

Britain first announced it was sending troops to help evacuate foreign nationals as rebels advanced on the capital in May 2000.

A peace deal between government and rebels had broken down and rebel forces were scoring successes against the Sierra Leone army and the UN peacekeeping force, some of whose members had been taken hostage.

London later announced it would help train and arm the Sierra Leone army, and several hundred British troops remain in the country in a training capacity.