Coax Africa to peace, says Blair

Blair in Nigeria: "No responsible leader can turn their back on Africa"

LUNGI, Sierra Leone -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair used a quickfire visit to British troops in Sierra Leone to insist that war-ravaged Africa can be coaxed onto the path of peace.

Britain sent hundreds of troops to back a United Nations force in May 2000 after rebels flouted a peace deal and took U.N. peacekeepers hostage.

"Our armed forces can be very proud of what they are doing here, but so can the Sierra Leone government forces," Blair said on Saturday at a garrison where British soldiers are training former rebel fighters and government militiamen to join a new national army.

Blair has already visited strife-battered Nigeria. As he made his way along the West African coast to Sierra Leone, signs that rebels in neighbouring Liberia were closing on the capital Monrovia highlighted the problems of the conflict-ridden region.

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"Thank you Blair. Welcome to the peacemaker" read a banner at Mahera village -- a message from war-weary Sierra Leoneans for Britain's role in ending the war.

But many in Freetown were disappointed at the brevity of Blair's trip, and that he would not see the capital, Freetown, across the Sierra Leone river from the airport at Lungi.

"My only regret is that you are not staying longer," President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah told Blair, whose visit lasted about two and a half hours.

Sierra Leone's war was declared over last month after the disarmament of over 47,000 rebel and government militiamen.

Britain has trained some 9,000 soldiers to help the country's army break with a past of indiscipline and corruption. In Ghana on Friday Blair called on the West to slash trade barriers to Africa and produce a blueprint for tackling conflicts.

Blair also pledged Britain and its G8 partners would help peacekeeping capabilities in Africa. Blair championed a "Plan For Africa" at the G8 summit in Genoa last summer.

On Thursday Blair was in Nigeria and he told the country's parliament that rich nations joining the fight against poverty in Africa could be providing a "down payment" for global security, he said.

By helping prevent nations spiralling into poverty and dictatorship the world would insure itself against the export of "drugs or terror or extremism," he added.

During his African trip, Blair reiterated that Britain believes African nations should do more to provide their own peacekeeping forces.