They are also expanding their denial of the country's sovereignty by laying the groundwork to try the central RUF leader and vice president of the country in an international war crimes tribunal.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has increased the size of its military force in Sierra Leone by 2,000 troops. With some 11,000 currently deployed in the country, it is the largest UN military operation in the world.

The military deployment is expected to be enlarged to 16,500 troops the New York Times reported May 20.

Washington is demanding the RUF, which says it has 15,000 troops, give up its rural bases and the diamond-rich territory under its control. It is using the history of brutality by the RUF against the civilian population to justify the intervention. The U.S. rulers and their imperialist allies in London cranked up the pressure on the RUF after their central leader, Foday Sankoh, was captured May 17 and flown to Lungi airport, which is now occupied by British troops.

Washington, taking further steps to establish itself as the preeminent imperial power in Africa, has sought out the regime in Nigeria to serve as its proxy force in Sierra Leone. "We have in fact been in contact with the Nigerians to see how and if they can participate in a very active role and what will be required to support their efforts," U.S. secretary of defense William Cohen announced at a Pentagon briefing May 16.  
 
Washington uses Nigerian government
Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo said his government would supply as much military force as necessary, provided they get stronger backing from the UN and receive logistical and air support from Washington and other countries. Obasanjo made the offer to Democratic Party politician Jesse Jackson, appointed by U.S. president William Clinton as Washington's special envoy in Africa. He called Obasanjo's pledge to carry out imperialism's dirty work on the ground "a very bold commitment and one that the U.S. government appreciates."

Jackson embarked on a tour through West Africa to seek military support for the UN operation. During his May 18 visit with Obasanjo, several West African military leaders were meeting in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, to approve a plan to send 3,000 troops to Sierra Leone.

After securing a military commitment from Obasanjo and other West African leaders, Jackson flew to Liberia, where he tried some arm-twisting on the Liberian government, demanding the regime break its ties with the RUF and help to destroy the rebel force. "Not only is it wrong, it jeopardizes your own government," he lectured Liberian president Charles Taylor.

At a news conference in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, Jackson said he urged the Nigeria regime to send more troops to Sierra Leone to help defeat the RUF. "They have the power to remove the RUF as a military consideration in negotiations," he declared.

On May 17 Nigerian troops battled RUF rebels in the Sierra Leone town of Port Loko, about 65 miles from Freetown. In that two-hour firefight, which involved mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, one Nigerian and six pro-government soldiers were killed.

Three years ago Nigerian troops fought in Sierra Leone against the RUF, which had formed an alliance with other rebel forces to overthrow the British-backed regime of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. The Nigerian-led West African intervention force drove the RUF alliance from Freetown and reinstalled Kabbah in 1998.

The RUF, which briefly headed a brutal regime, is holding more than 300 UN troops as hostages. RUF forces captured some 500 UN military personnel when the imperialist-backed government in Sierra Leone and the UN force attempted to seize the diamond-rich territory controlled by the rebels.

Liberian president Taylor, a longtime supporter of the RUF, played a role in securing the release of more than 150 hostages. Taylor, who came to power following the 1990–97 civil war in Liberia, had helped found the RUF in 1991. He supplied the rebel force with arms and territory in Liberia to launch attacks, and sent many of his fighters to Sierra Leone to back the RUF.  
 
British troops kill rebels
Some 25 British paratroopers killed four RUF soldiers May 17 in a firefight near Lungi airport, where Sankoh is being held captive.

London has more than 1,100 special forces troops, Harrier jets, and attack helicopters deployed in Sierra Leone. Seven British warships are patrolling the coast of Freetown--London's largest naval mobilization since its war to retake the Malvinas islands in 1982.

Sierra Leone, a British colony until 1961, is the world's poorest country despite an abundance of diamonds, gold, bauxite, and other minerals. Life expectancy is 37 years in this civil-war-torn country of 5.3 million people. After decades of imperialist plunder and capitalist exploitation its foreign debt stands at an astronomical $1.2 billion.

The big-business media has waged a campaign for imperialist intervention, portraying the people of Sierra Leone as prone to lawlessness and "anarchy." Two days after Foday Sankoh was captured, New York Times editors declared, "There is the danger of mob justice." They called for setting up an "international tribunal like those the UN has established for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia." This is necessary, the Times asserted, since Sierra Leone "does not have the means to guarantee an orderly trial or due process" for Sankoh and others accused of "war crimes."  
 
 
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