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More than 300 troops will stay behind |
2000: British marines leave Sierra Leone
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Artificially 1969:
The The major contingent of the British military task-force sent to help restore order in Sierra Leone has left the country.
The departure of the prestigious Royal Marines was overseen by UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who said his government was proud of what they had done to restore stability.
Britain, the former colonial power in Sierra Leone, is handing responsibility for security to the United Nations.
About 300 UK troops and support staff will stay on in the war-torn African country for the next six to eight weeks to help establish a UK military advisory training team.
Most people in Freetown would prefer to see the British military continuing their confidence-building street patrols, but UK ministers always insisted their mission to help the UN forces there was a short-term one.
"They did appear on the verge of collapse." Brigadier David Richards said.
Brigadier David Richards, commander of the British forces in Sierra Leone, told BBC Radio's Today programme: "The UN have a much stronger resolve now and are clearer about their mandate and have shown that they have the resolve to fight.
"When we arrived here about six weeks ago, they did appear on the verge of collapse. Today they have been transformed."
At the core of the continuing British effort will be the retraining of thedemoralisedSierra Leone army.
Many of its soldiers are poorly trained and equipped and their ranks have featured children.
Sierra Leone continues to facehorrendousproblems. A war is being fought in the countryside about which there is little reliable information.
The UN says that one million people have been affected.
The rebels hold the main diamond-producing area, which deprives the government of revenue and, it is alleged, attracts support for the rebels from neighbouring Liberia.
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