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ICRC set to return in next few days

    ABIDJAN
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will be returning to Sierra Leone "probably by the beginning of next week", its West Africa spokesman, Christian Frutiger, confirmed to IRIN today. Frutiger said that one delegate will travel to Freetown in the next few days and make a needs assessment to prepare the ground for the arrival of the first ICRC team. "We will start with a small team to assist civilians and displaced people," Frutiger said. "We aim to continue our activities in the Netland Surgical Hospital in Freetown and envisage going up country if the security situation permits." A spokesman for the Sierra Leonean government said the two sides had resolved a row which erupted in January when the government accused the Swiss-run agency of assisting rebels who were besieging the capital, Reuters reported. The ICRC evacuated its last five expatriate staff from Freetown on 13 January, Reuters added.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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