Nigerian troops cancelled their planned withdrawal from Sierra Leone last month, after the rebel Revolutionary United Front failed to disarm as agreed in the July peace deal. Fears remain of a resumption of the brutal fighting that has killed thousands and left many more deliberately maimed.
After seven years of vicious fighting and the failure of several mediation attempts, the warring factions in the west African state of Sierra Leone have finally agreed to a ceasefire - but only because of strong pressure exerted by the US, Britain, the United Nations and Nigeria. Washington’s role in the deal is said to have been the ‘clinching influence’.
