Sierra Leone rebels have freed 139 UN hostages in the first sign of a breakthrough in the two-week-long crisis. The freed peacekeepers were sent to neighbouring Liberia. More than 500 UN personnel were taken hostage by Revolutionary United Front rebels, who have been flouting a peace deal brokered last year. The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone is the largest operation in the world numbering more than 9,000 troops.
The announcement was made the President of Liberia Charles Taylor. He said that 124 UN troops were in a border area between the two countries and 15 others were already in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The head of the UN force in Sierra Leone, General V J Jakely, said that the Liberian president had been trying to achieve their release.
