RUSSIA’s upper house of parliament approved sending reinforcements to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone on Wednesday. The Federation Council, empowered to approve the sending of troops abroad, voted to back the dispatch of 115 men and four Mi-24 helicopters to the west African state, where rebels earlier took hundreds of UN peacekeepers captive. General parliamentary approval is needed to send any Russian troops abroad, but it is up to the government now to decide if and when to dispatch them. The UN has decided to beef up the force, which came under pressure last month as the rebels advanced on the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown. The force was policing a 1999 peace deal, broken by the rebel advance. British paratroops, originally sent to evacuate expatriate civilians, helped the UN forces to regroup and government troops have now gone on the offensive. The new Russian troops will ensure the security of UN staff and will only be allowed to take part in combat in self-defence. –AFP