STORY: SOMALIA / SIERRA LEONE TROOPS IN SOMALIA TRT: 3:02 SOURCE: AU/UN IST RESTRICTIONS: This media asset

is free for editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is not to be sold on and is restricted for other purposes. All enquiries to news@auunist.org CREDIT REQUIRED: AU/UN IST LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS DATELINE: 01 JUNE 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST: 1. Med shot, plane with Sierra Leone troops arriving at the Mogadishu airport 2. Wide shot, UN aircraft with troops at the Mogadishu airport 3. Wide shot, AIMSOM safety officials checking the aircraft on the ground 4. Med shot, AMISOM Sierra Leonean troops disembarking from plane 5. Med shot, more troops existing the aircraft 6. Wide shot, Sierra Leone troops walking away from the plane 7. Med shot, AMISOM Force Commander and officials welcome the troops 8. Med shot, Force Commander Lt. Gen Andrew Gutti welcoming the soldiers 9. Wide shot, troops at the airport 10. Med shot, AMISOM officials walking away 11. Wide shot, AMISOM force commander talking to the Sierra Leone soldiers at a waiting area 12. Close up, soldiers eyes 13. Med shot, Sierra Leone troops standing at ease 14. Close up, Sierra Leone flag insignia 15. Wide shot, troops listening to the AMISOM Force Commander 16. Med shot, Force Commander Lt. Gen Andrew Gutti talking to troops 17. Wide shot, Force Commander talking to troops 18. Close up, Sierra Leone soldiers face 19. Med shot, Sierra Leone troops 20. SOUNDBITE (English) Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, African Union Mission in Somalia, Force Commander: Jubbaland {Kismayo} will be controlled by KDF and Sierra Leone, so this new soldiers will be deployed in that area to augment the forces there. So their work is to go and consolidate the achievement already achieved on ground and to make sure that we stabilize the area. 21. Med shot, Sierra Leone troops in line

22. Close up, Sierra Leone soldier 23. Med shot, troops in line 24. SOUNDBITE (English) Colonel Mamadi Mohamed Keita, Sierra Leone Contingent Commander: It makes me feel good because I believe it is pay back time, we had a bitter and brutal war for over ten years in Sierra Leone. The war ended in 2002 and all of you are aware of what role sister African countries played in bringing peace to Sierra Leone, so if we are going the same thing to Somalia we believe it is a play back time and we also pray that the Somali National Force will also do likewise in another troubled sister country in the future. 25. Wide shot, AMISOM Sierra Leone troops cheering

STORY: The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) today (1st June 2013) welcomed some members of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) to the Mission Headquarters in Mogadishu. The troops, part of a battalion already deployed to Somalia will be joining other African forces on the ground to support the Somali Security Forces in the fight against the Al Qaeda linked extremist group al Shabaab. The militant group has been forced out of most cities in Somalia and they continue to loose ground to the Somali and Africa Union Forces. AMISOMs Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Andrew Gutti and the Sierra Leonean Contingent Commander, Colonel Mamadi Keita and senior AMISOM officers welcomed the troops off the plane at Mogadishu Airport before addressing them at a welcome parade. Jubbaland {Kismayo} will be controlled by KDF and Sierra Leone, so this new soldiers will be deployed in that area to augment the forces there. Says Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, So their work is to go and consolidate the achievement already achieved on ground and to make sure that we stabilize the area. The Sierra Leonean is the fifth military contingent working with the African Union Forces in South Central Somalia, along side Burundian, Djiboutian, Kenyan and Ugandan contingents. They started deploying in early April and will be working alongside Kenyan troops in Sector 2, the port city of Kismayo where AMISOM forces have made major gains in the fight against insurgents. Col. Mamadi Keita, the Sierra Leone troop continent commander, say its time to pay back and work to bring peace to another African country that is a the same situation that Sierra Leone was not too long ago.

It makes me feel good because I believe it is pay back time, we had a bitter and brutal war for over ten years in Sierra Leone. The war ended in 2002 and all of you are aware of what role sister African countries played in bringing peace to Sierra Leone, so if we are going the same thing to Somalia we believe it is a play back time and we also pray that the Somali National Force will also do likewise in another troubled sister country in the future. Over the past year the African Union Mission in Somalia troops alongside their Somali counterparts has significantly expanded the area of control of the Federal Government of Somalia as the government embarks on stabilization efforts in these regions.