Ghana says its troops not in Sierra Leone

ACCRA, June 2 Ghana has sent troops to Liberia ready to go into Sierra Leone to evacuate Ghanaians living there but they are waiting for logistical support before proceeding to Freetown, a defence ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Major John Simmons said Ghana had sent 62 troops and four officers to Monrovia on Sunday. He said it was not their mission to assist the Nigerian intervention which began at daybreak on Monday.

``The Ghanaian army is not fighting alongside the Nigerians. Not at all. They will only go there to evacuate,'' Simmons said.

He said Ghanaian troops already stationed in Liberia with the Nigerian-led West African intervention force ECOMOG had not been ordered into Freetown along with the Nigerians.

The troops were flown to Monrovia on Sunday in an army Fokker F28 plane which returned to Accra. They would wait in Monrovia until they got the necessary logistics, notably vehicles, said Simmons. Reuters