UK troops help with evacuation
11/11/2004 22:08  - (SA)  

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London - Britain has sent troops to prepare for an imminent evacuation of the country's nationals from violence-torn Ivory Coast, defence secretary Geoff Hoon said in a statement on Thursday.

A company from the Royal Gurkha Regiment is "pre-positioning" in Ghana, neighbouring Ivory Coast, and will support the evacuation, Hoon said.

A military reconnaissance team was sent to Ivory Coast earlier in the week to assess whether an evacuation was needed, Hoon said in a written statement to parliament.

"I wish to inform the house (of commons) that, following this reconnaissance, the foreign and commonwealth office has requested British forces to undertake an evacuation of UK nationals and others over the next few days," he said.

"We would expect the operation to last days, not weeks," he added.

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