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http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/01/03/leone.un.court.reut/index.html

Annan approves war crimes court for Sierra Leone

January 3, 2002 Posted: 4:44 PM EST (2144 GMT)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday authorized a war crimes tribunal to be set up in Sierra Leone despite a big shortfall in funding pledges from the world body's member-nations.

Annan said a U.N. planning mission would head to the Sierra Leone capital Freetown Monday to launch the process of arranging premises for the special court, hiring local staff and beginning investigations.

The tribunal's task would be to prosecute about 20 alleged ringleaders of the West African nation's decade-long civil war, which currently appears to be winding down. The U.N. Security Council voted to set it up in 2000 to try people charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of international law.

Sierra Leone's U.N. envoy Allieu Ibrahim Kanu, welcoming Annan's move, said the court could be ready to begin trying cases in about a year.

"We are very committed to the court. The process has to commence," he told Reuters. "The political will and commitment of the international community are there to assist us."

The war in the former British colony pitted government forces and militias against Revolutionary United Front rebels who seized control of the country's diamond-mining areas and became notorious for hacking off the limbs of women and children and enlisting thousands of child soldiers in their cause.