The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone has scaled down its activities in the West African country, handing over the prison keys to the Freetown government.

A court official gave the prison keys to Sierra Leone Attorney General Abdul Serry-Kamal at a ceremony in Freetown on Monday.

The court was established to try those most responsible for the killings committed during Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war.

Over 120,000 people were killed in the conflict, which officially ended in 2002.

The war involved rival factions fighting for control of the country's diamond mines who often mutilated innocent civilians in their mad quest for blood diamonds.

The court is still trying former Liberian president Charles Taylor, whose trial was transferred to The Hague due to security concerns.

Taylor is accused of supporting Sierra Leone rebels and has been charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The former warlord has denied the allegations.

The Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal recently finished its last trials and moved eight convicts to a prison in Rwanda. The prisoners were transferred because no prison in the country met international standards.

JR/HGL