King Gyanendra Wednesday granted audience to officers of the first contingent of Nepali UN peace keepers going to the West African state of Sierra Leone to maintain order there, an announcement said.

The King visited the peacekeeping centre at Panchkhal in Kavre where 800 army men are undergoing rigorous training preparatory to their departure for Africa. The King watched military exercises there.

“It is the prestige of Nepal to maintain peace in Sierra Leone. The Royal Nepal Army has successfully fulfilled its duties under the United Nations mandate in different parts of the world,” said Prime Minister and Defence Minister Sher Bahadur to the departing

soldiers.

Nepal is sending peace keepers to West Africa after withdrawing from Lebanon in more than two decades.