U.N. extends mision in Sierra Leone

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously recently to extend the mandate of their peace building mission in Sierra Leone. Outgoing Secretary General Kofi Annan calls this mission a true success story, as the team helped put the country back on the path to peace after a bloody 11-year civil war which ended in 2002. Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emry Jones Parry said that the council "rightly recognizes the huge steps that Sierra Leone has taken over the past two years," and compared to two years ago, the country has made progress. The mission has 10 military observers, 18 international police officers, and about 130 civilian staff members. The extension keeps the team on through the democratic elections in July, 2007.
(Click here to read more from the article written by the AP's Tracee Herbaugh.)