USA US FORCES ARE POISED TO EVACUATE AMERICANS FROM SIERRA LEONE

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(29 May 1997) English/Nat • • U-S officials in Washington confirm that American forces are poised to evacuate more than 200 Americans from the west African nation Sierra Leone. • • A Pentagon spokesman said other nationals may be included in the airlift. • • Signs of growing unrest and instability are prompting the move, U-S officials say, in the wake of last Sunday's military coup. • • At the Pentagon, there was confirmation of plans for an airlift of U-S citizens from Freetown, Sierra Leone's nervous capital city. • • Officials in Washington said the situation in Sierra Leone is deteriorating so the U-S will evacuate its citizens with the help of an assault ship. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • It's not stable at all, there's sporadic gunfire. There's a good deal of doubt about who's in charge and when the State Department asked us to conduct this non-combatant evacuation order we moved the Kearsarge up to the vicinity and we are now prepared to execute that particular deal. • SUPER CAPTION: Colonel Richard Bridges, Pentagon spokesman • • The Pentagon says the airlift is backed by some 12-hundred U-S Marines and the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, lying off the coast of the West African nation. • • Their primary goal -- to rescue Americans. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • There are about two-hundred-and-fifty Americans, two-hundred-and-fifty to three-hundred Americans that we anticipate will want to come out and we anticipate beginning the operation tomorrow and concluding it tomorrow. • SUPER CAPTION: Colonel Richard Bridges, Pentagon spokesman • • And they say citizens of other countries will be evacuated on a space-available basis with the Americans. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • We take into account whether there is danger to these people, agreements that we have with various countries and such things or even a humanitarian basis. We are not going to put people in harm's way, if it's practical to remove them we will do so, on a space available basis with priority being given to American citizens. • SUPER CAPTION: Colonel Richard Bridges, Pentagon spokesman • • At Sierra Leone's embassy in Washington, there were appeals for a strong U-S response to the military coup leaders. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • We ask the escortment to support the peaceful process in resolving this matter. • SUPER CAPTION: John Leigh, Sierra Leone's Ambassador to the U-S • • The ambassador said he supported the U-S call for a return to power of Sierra Leone's civilian government. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • As far as we are concerned President Kabbah is still the president of Sierra Leone. He will remain so until his term of office is over and that we will never, never deal with the coup people, and they're going to give us all kinds of supports once this thing is over, and right now they're talking with these fellows and saying, `look mister, you're backed up against a wall, you have no place to go, we're giving you a chance to walk out away from this thing, otherwise you're done with'. • SUPER CAPTION: John Leigh, Ambassador, Sierra Leone • • U-S officials say a 28- (m) million dollar aid programme to the country continues despite the coup. • • Junior officers from Sierra Leone's army captured the capital on Sunday by overthrowing elected President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah in an uprising that killed at least 20 people. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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