"We don't want violence here again. It's provocation. You provoke the man, you make a big mistake," Foday Sankoh said in an exclusive BBC interview.

Mr Sankoh: thinly veiled threat to UN

For their part, the United States, Britain and France have rejected UN requests to send troops to Sierra Leone.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan wants a rapid-reaction force deployed immediately, rather than wait for reinforcements due next month.

American officials say they are examining ways of improving the existing force, and Britain has offered technical and logistical support.

Fragile peace

The peacekeeping force - the UN's largest - is in Sierra Leone to try to support a fragile peace deal in a war which has made millions homeless.

We don't want violence here again

Foday Sankoh

The UN says the former rebels - who are now part of a power-sharing government - have seized at least 92 of its staff including unarmed military observers, armed peacekeepers and civilian personnel. Earlier estimates put the figure at 69.

Mr Sankoh had suggested prior to his BBC interview that a small number of hostages would be freed.

The peacekeepers have warned of a grave situation in Sierra Leone after violent confrontations between their troops and rebels.

The UN said fighters from Mr Sankoh's Revolutionary United Front had destroyed disarmament camps in the central towns of Makeni and Magburaka.

It also reported outbreaks of sporadic firing on Wednesday night in many parts of the country.

The capital was thrown into panic when army soldiers began shooting sporadically in their barracks.

Nigerian UN troops were reported to have brought the situation under control.

Conflicting reports

The UN says the hostages were taken during violent clashes on Tuesday when the rebels attacked UN forces in Makeni and Magburaka.

Mr Sankoh has denied that his fighters took the hostages or were responsible for the violent clashes - but he told reporters that six of his fighters had been killed in the clashes.

The UN initially said seven of its personnel had been killed but on Thursday revised downwards to four the number of peacekeepers who are missing and presumed dead following the fighting.

Mr Annan is outraged about the deaths of peacekeepers

It has said its Indian peacekeepers in another town, Kailahun, have been allowed to take food to those detained by the rebels.

International pressure has been mounting on Mr Sankoh to help resolve the crisis.

Mr Annan has said Mr Sankoh is responsible for the actions of his supporters in the east.

A UN commander in Sierra Leone, Brigadier Abdulai Mohamed and a special envoy of President Obasanjo of Nigeria, General Aliyu Mohammed have also met Mr Sankoh.