FREETOWN, 16 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - On arrival at Lungi airport in steamy Sierra Leone, visitors are welcomed by a sign-board plea: “If you cannot help us, please do not corrupt us.” But according to an anti-corruption activist, civil servants running the country typically expect a 20 percent pay off from organisations awarded a contract.Full report

GODERICH, 14 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - The largest UN peacekeeping operation in its time is about to wind up but despite the broad successes of the mission, war battered Sierra Leone is still at the beginning of the long road to recovery.Full report

FREETOWN, 9 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - The leader of a breakaway political party is making waves in Sierra Leone as the country begins to look ahead to presidential elections and watches the final exit of a once 17,500-strong UN peacekeeping mission.Full report

DAKAR, 3 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - International donors have pledged nearly US $10 million for the final stretch of Sierra Leone’s Special Court – far short of the $25 million the court needs to complete its work of trying those suspected of atrocities in the country’s decade–long brutal war. Full report

FREETOWN, 15 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Civilians who lost limbs in Sierra Leone’s atrociously brutal war are mobilising to ensure promises of aid to victims do not remain mere words on paper. Full report

DAKAR, 1 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - Human rights and government accountability will top the list of priorities for a new UN assistance team, set to step into Sierra Leone after the last peacekeepers leave at the end of the year. Full report

FREETOWN, 19 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Heavy floods have hit a string of villages in southern Sierra Leone, wiping away scores of houses, trapping villagers and leaving vast areas inaccessible to humanitarian teams scrambling to assess the damage, aid officials said on Friday. Full report

DAKAR, 13 Jul 2005 (IRIN) - The government of Sierra Leone has published proposals for implementing the recommendations of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), but human rights and other civil society groups have criticised them in a joint statement as "vague and noncommittal". Full report

DAKAR, 1 Jul 2005 (IRIN) - The UN Security Council has voted to close down the UN peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone by the end of December, with the next contingent of troops due to pull out in mid-August. Full report

DAKAR, 25 May 2005 (IRIN) - Sierra Leone's Special Court needs international donors to stump up around $30 million so that the trials of suspected war criminals from the country's brutal civil conflict can be completed, registrar Robin Vincent said on Wednesday. Full report

SIERRA LEONE: Special Court settling in

SIERRA LEONE: Driver turns roadside advocate "fo pikin"

SIERRA LEONE: Corruption may be illegal, but no one’s giving it up yet

SIERRA LEONE: Blue helmets quit, but “peace elusive”

SIERRA LEONE: Female circumcision is a vote winner

WEST AFRICA: Bockarie's death boosts chances for peace