The RUF leader Foday Sankoh is being kept in protective custody

Official sources in Ouagadougou say the denial was prompted by renewed accusations against Burkina Faso in the European Parliament.

The Sierra Leonean Government as well international campaigners say that the two countries have been used by the RUF as transit points for their diamond exports.

It is also widely believed that the RUF gets most of its arms and other supplies through Liberia in exchange for illegally mined diamonds.

Presidents Charles Taylor of Liberia and Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso have both denied any wrongdoing.

Nigerian diplomacy

Meanwhile, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria is to send a personal envoy to both Burkina Faso and Liberia as part of efforts to resolve the crisis in Sierra Leone.

Taylor has been negotiating with the rebels for the release of UN hostages

President Obasanjo's decision was announced by the US presidential envoy Jesse Jackson, who held talks with the Nigerian leader in Benin City on Thursday.

Mr Jackson who travelled to Liberia on Friday said he had had a "very good discussion" on the situation in Sierra Leone with President Obasanjo.

Nigeria has been the major contributor of troops to the West African regional military force in Sierra Leone, Ecomog.