From: "Martyn", [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Jul 13 2000 14:39:41 UK to give S.Leone army more ammunition, training LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday it would supply the Sierra Leone army with more ammunition for its fight against rebels and extend a military training programme. Defence Secretary Geoffrey Hoon said in a statement that Britain would send five million rounds of ammunition and equipment such as boots to help with "urgent operational needs". "The ammunition is being provided subject to further reassurances that it will be used only by regular (army) soldiers, in accordance with humanitarian law and human rights standards, and not by child soldiers," Hoon said. He said a six-week training course run by the Royal Irish Regiment would follow training started by the Royal Anglian Regiment, which is due to return to Britain in July. Sierra Leone's army is engaged in a civil war with Revolutionary United Front rebels, who in May broke a 1999 peace agreement and took hundreds of United Nations peacekeepers hostage. Britain sent 900 paratroopers and 600 marines to its former colony in West Africa to secure the airport and support the U.N. mission and a pro-government alliance. In June, the British government promised to help arm and train Sierra Leone's army before pulling out its troops.
