Evacuation of Ghanaians From Freetown Stalled By Fighting

ACCRA, Ghana 4 Jun - The evacuation of Ghanaians from the troubled Sierra Leonean Capital, Freetown, has not yet started due to the military offensive there, officials said Tuesday in Accra.

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Kwamena Ahwoi and Kofi Totobi Quakyi, minister of state, told a news conference that a Ghanaian contingent from Accra was in Monrovia awaiting deployment.

He called the briefing to update the media on latest developments in Sierra Leone, following the overthrow of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's government May 25.

Ahwoi said there were between 500 and 600 Ghanaians trapped in Freetown who had gathered to be evacuated but have had to disperse for safety.

He said Victor Gbeho, deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Col. Seth Obeng, the chief of staf in the Armed Forces General Headquarters, will leave Accra today for Monrovia to participate in the search for early settlement of the crisis.

Ahwoi said Ghana still believes that options for a negotiated settlement have not been exhausted in spite of the military offensive.

He said that the option of a military intervention and the negotiated settlement were not mutually exclusive.

One of the concerns of Ghana, the acting Minister said, is to avoid a prolonged military intervention which will create a situation similar to the experience of Ecomog in Liberia.

On his part, Quakyi said that with the deployment of some of the Nigerian troops serving with Ecomog in Monrovia to Freetown, a vacuum had been created which could be exploited by any of the factions in Liberia.

For this reason, the deployment of the Ghanaian contingent to Freetown must be handled carefully.

Quakyi also insisted that military intervention "has always been on the card" and has been discussed among ECOWAS member countries. PANA