THE head of the Defence Forces said any soldier found guilty of using prostitutes in East Africa would be dealt with forcefully. Lieutenant General Colm Mangan described the allegations, involving a 15-year-old prostitute as an unseemly incident.

A UNITED NATIONS report alleging Irish peacekeepers in Africa used prostitutes, including a 15-year-old girl, was compiled without interviewing any of the seven accused, it emerged yesterday.

The Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, Colm Mangan, is due to testify at the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic later today.

THE last contingent of military police to serve in Sarajevo arrived home yesterday but the Irish defence force is preparing to increase its commitment to the Balkans’ region.

Lieutenant General Colm Mangan, the chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces, has revealed that Irish soldiers will become involved in infantry operations in Kosovo from next year.

Minister for Defence Michael Smith is today beginning a three-day trip to the Balkans to visit troops on peacekeeping missions.

The Defence Forces chief-of-staff, Colm Mangan, is due to address Irish soldiers departing for peacekeeping duties in Bosnia later this morning.

The Defence Forces experienced a skills drain of 51 members last year, according to its annual report for 2001.

A new study has found that bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination are rife in the Defence Forces.

The tricolour has been lowered at Camp Shamrock in the Lebanon this morning, ending 23 years of Irish peacekeeping in the region.

The head of the Defence Forces has told his 11,500 troops that sexual harassment in the ranks is "entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated".

The Defence Forces Chief of Staff has rejected out of hand reports that female Army, Navy and Aer Corps members are being bullied and sexually harassed.