Freetown - Rebels in Sierra Leone have reneged on a pledge to promptly release 21 Indian UN peacekeepers being held at Pendembu in the south-east of the country, the United Nations said yesterday.
A senior commander of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) had earlier this week told the United Nations the 21 would be released shortly.
"It seems the RUF is not now considering their early release as they had promised us," UN spokesman David Wimhurst told reporters here yesterday. "We view this with some dismay," he added.
India sent a high-ranking government team to Sierra Leone to help negotiate the release of the men.