6 troops still captive in Sierra Leone
Five of the eleven British soldiers abducted in Sierra Leone have been released. The foreign office said the five are in British hands and negotiations will continue in the morning to try to secure the release of the other six. The eleven soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment were captured by the rebel West Side Boys on Friday.
The Commander of the UN Peace Keeping force in Sierra Leone has challenged accounts of how the soldiers were abducted by the militia group. In a BBC interview, Nigeria's General Mohammed Gaba said that the soldiers had been travelling in a dangerous rebel area and had not told the UN what they were doing.
Earlier, British officials said that the troops were captured after liasing with the UN. The Commander of British forces in Sierra Leone, Brigadier Gordon Hughes, said that it was too early to discuss the events leading up to the troops' capture.
