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Sierra Leone rebels implicate Britain

Paul Lashmar
Sunday 07 February 1999 19:02 EST
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SIERRA LEONE rebels said troops from a Royal Navy ship had been deployed on a military mission in the capital, Freetown. A Revolutionary United Front spokesman said personnel from HMS Norfolk disembarked last week to an unknown destination in Freetown.

The Ministry of Defence denied it, saying Britain's presence in the region was "entirely humanitarian". Britain sent the Norfolk to its former colony in what it called a precautionary move after rebels invaded Freetown on 6 January. A Nigerian-led West African force has largely retaken control of Freetown but is still grappling with rebel infiltrators on the fringes of the city.

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