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afrol.com, 30 March - The UN Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) for six months and increased its military component to a strength of 17,500, including the 260 military observers already deployed. By a unanimous vote, the Council also demanded that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and other military groups immediately cease their reported abuses of human rights, particularly the harassment and forced recruitment of adults and children for fighting and forced labour, according to UN sources. The Security Council also requested Secretary-General Kofi Annan to ensure that all human rights monitoring positions in UNAMSIL were filled. Expressing its deep concern that the Abuja Ceasefire Agreement, signed by the Government of Sierra Leone and the RUF in November 2000, had not been fully implemented, the Council demanded that the RUF fulfil its commitments to ensure full liberty for the deployment of UN troops throughout the country; the free movement of persons and goods; unimpeded movement of humanitarian agencies, refugees and displaced persons; and the immediate return of all seized weapons, ammunition and other equipment. The Council called upon all parties to the Sierra Leone conflict to intensify their efforts towards the full and peaceful implementation of the Abuja Ceasefire Agreement and the resumption of the peace process. It also urged continued cooperation by governments and regional leaders with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the UN to promote those efforts. Encouraging ECOWAS efforts towards a lasting and final settlement of the crisis in the Mano River Union caused by continued fighting in the border areas of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the Council underlined the importance of the UN's political support to those efforts in order to stabilize the region. Sources: Based on UN
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