Straw thanks Ghana for evacuation of British nationals

Accra, Dec. 20, GNA - The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, has thanked Ghana for assisting in the evacuation of British nationals from Cote d'Ivoire last month.

He said the UK could not have carried out the operation without the assistance of Ghana providing landing rights, visas and immigration arrangements both for the evacuation staff and those coming out of C=F4te d'Ivoire.

In a letter to the Minister of the Interior, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, the British Minister wrote: "At extremely short notice, you and your officials made special efforts to assist both UK civilian and military teams in their work."

Mr Straw said he was delighted at the cooperation between Ghana and the UK in dealing with the situation effectively. Nationals of several countries who were evacuated from C=F4te d'Ivoire during the recent crisis in that country landed in Accra before being flown back home.