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US sends patrol vessel

    ABIDJAN

    US President Bill Clinton said his country had sent a patrol vessel, the USS Thunderbolt, to West Africa as a precautionary measure. The ship and its crew were equipped with the “normal complement of weapons”, he said in a letter to the House of Representatives and the Senate. He noted that the US was holding consultations with the UN and West African states on ways to resolve the Sierra Leone crisis. Describing the situation as critical, he said most US citizens had been evacuated but the ambassador and a small number of embassy personnel would remain to monitor events. The US had also sent an advance party of military logistics planners to Nigeria to discuss specific airlift requirements, should it become necessary to move Nigerian military forces into Sierra Leone.

    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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