[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 19 (Monday, May 15, 2000)]
[Page 1077]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Situation in Sierra Leone

May 11, 2000

    U.N. Secretary-General Annan and I agreed this morning that the 
international community must intensify international efforts to restore 
peace in Sierra Leone and to prevent a return to all-out civil war. The 
situation there has been grave. But the U.N. is determined to fulfill 
its mission; African and other nations are willing to act; and we are 
ready to help them.
    I have instructed our military to provide needed assistance to 
accelerate the deployment of troops to UNAMSIL and informed the U.N. 
that the United States will help transport reinforcements. A U.S. 
military transport aircraft is now in Jordan to move ammunition and 
supplies that are needed immediately for the Jordanian elements in 
Sierra Leone.
    We intend to support the commitment west African nations have made 
to send additional troops to Sierra Leone to restore peace. A U.S. 
military team is now in Nigeria to determine what assistance might be 
needed from the international community to outfit and transport these 
forces as quickly as possible.
    I welcome the statement west African leaders made on Tuesday at 
their emergency summit in Abuja, Nigeria, calling for the release of all 
hostages and pledging to protect democratic institutions in Sierra 
Leone.
    I have asked Rev. Jesse Jackson, my Special Envoy for Democracy in 
Africa, to return to the region to work with leaders there for a 
peaceful resolution of this crisis. Reverend Jackson has been actively 
involved in our diplomatic effort to help the people of Sierra Leone 
realize their peaceful aspirations.