Friday, 5 May, 2000, 18:34 GMT 19:34 UK Rebels 'hold 300 UN staff'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_737000/737961.stm

The United Nations has said that as many as 318 of its staff may have been taken hostage in eastern Sierra Leone by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). That figure is believed to include around 200 Zambian soldiers sent to reinforce the other beleaguered peacekeepers.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said it was now known that they - together with 24 other UN personnel - had been disarmed and were in rebel hands, along with nearly 100 peackeepers abducted several days ago.

The efforts right now are political in nature. If that fails, I don't want to speculate, what happens next

Fred Eckhard

Mr Eckhard said there were reports that the RUF had commandeered and were using UN armoured personnel carriers.

Earlier in the day, RUF leader Foday Sankoh ordered the release of six hostages, including a four-man Russian helicopter crew and two civilians, who were allowed to fly back to Freetown.

Their release was mediated by Liberian President Charles Taylor - a longtime ally of Mr Sankoh.

Earlier reports put the number of detained UN personnel at 92 peacekeepers and civilians.

Political pressure

The UN's Mr Eckhard said negotiations were still under way to try and resolve the crisis.

Mr Sankoh: thinly veiled threat to UN

"The efforts right now are political in nature - to get anyone who has any influence with Foday Sankoh to convince him to comply with the peace agreement. If that fails, I don't want to speculate, what happens next," Mr Eckhard said.

Our correspondent says that the UN's efforts are primarily political, largely because they don't have the kind of military muscle they would like to combat the rebels.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been rounding up African leaders to exert pressure on the rebels.

He said that he had enlisted the help of African political heavyweights such as Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, to defuse the explosive stand-off.

Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare is said to be on his way to Sierra Leone.

Mr Annan has also called for a rapid-reaction force to be deployed immediately in Sierra Leone.

However, the United States, Britain and France rejected UN requests to send troops.

Fragile peace

Mr Sankoh accused the peacekeepers of trying to force his fighters to disarm and had earlier warned the UN not to reinforce military positions near his stronghold.

"We don't want violence here again. It's provocation. You provoke the man, you make a big mistake," Mr Sankoh said in an exclusive BBC interview.

The peacekeeping force - the UN's largest - is in Sierra Leone to try to support a fragile peace deal in a war which has made millions homeless.

UN says the RUF may be using its armoured personnel carriers

Its mandate envisages disarmament and demobilisation of an estimated 45,000 fighters ahead of elections in early 2001.

The current crisis, which started when the RUF fighters destroyed two UN disarmament camps on Tuesday, is clearly the most serious challenge to the peace process in Sierra Leone for over a year.

Observers say that in the power struggle going on between Foday Sankoh and the United Nations, Mr Sankoh seems to hold all the cards.

The UN is very keen to negotiate its way out of this situation and the UN secretary-general has been trying to put pressure on Mr Sankoh to release the UN staff unharmed and put the peace process back on track.

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