Refugee chief seeks 'safe corridor'
The new United Nations refugee chief has appealed for a "safe corridor" for refugees from Guinea's southern borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone.
UN High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers visited camps in Guinea at the start of a nine-day West African tour.
Tens of thousands of Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees have sought shelter in UN camps after fleeing fighting along the border.
Many more refugees remain trapped in camps where relief workers have been unable to reach them since September.
"I call here on the government of Guinea to give us assistance to provide for the security of the refugees who are fleeing," says Mr Lubbers, the former Dutch prime minister.
"We need a corridor of security and safety for refugees and humanitarian workers."
Guinea has one of Africa's largest refugee populations, including 122,000 Liberians who fled their country's seven-year civil war which ended in 1996, and 330,000 Sierra Leoneans who have fled almost ten years of fighting by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front.
