FREETOWN, DEC 29: Three Sierra Leonean stowaways tried to hitch a ride with the last batch of Jordanian peacekeepers to leave the West African nation, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday. The three men, discovered on board the ship taking the 400peacekeepers home after it had Left the capital Freetown on Thursday, were taken back and put ashore, the spokeswoman added. Police were not informed. Jordan and India, the former force commander, opted to pulltheir troops out for different reasons. Jordan wanted to see First World nations play a greaterrole. India pulled out after friction with regional power broker Nigeria. A Kenyan commander now has charge of the force, currentlythe world body's largest. The spokeswoman said that India, which has already pulledout 1,200 troops plus heavy equipment, was expected to complete its withdrawal by the end of January. Troops from Ukraine and Bangladesh are taking their place.
