HL Deb 20 February 2003 vol 644 c199WA
Lord Tomlinson

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the United Kingdom remains committed to supporting the settlement process in Sierra Leone. [HL1799]

Lord Bach

The United Kingdom is committed to supporting the settlement process in Sierra Leone, which saw its first full year of peace for a decade in 2002. As part of a cross-departmental strategy agreed jointly by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development, the UK-led international military advisory and training team is helping to develop the Republic of Sierra Leone armed forces into a professional, effective and democratically accountable force.

As part of our ongoing commitment, a company group from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles will deploy to Freetown this week. This deployment also demonstrates the United Kingdom's ability to conduct such deployments notwithstanding our commitments elsewhere in the world.