Sierra Leone VP Samuel Sam-Sumana to seek asylum

 Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana 

Sierra Leone's Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana says he is seeking political asylum at the US embassy after soldiers surrounded his house.

Mr Sam-Sumana told the BBC that the troops had disarmed his bodyguards.


The move comes a week after the vice-president's expulsion from Sierra Leone's ruling party.

Two weeks ago, Mr Sam-Sumana said he was putting himself in quarantine for 21 days after one of his bodyguards died of Ebola.

Mr Sam-Sumana, 53, has been vice-president since 2007, when he stood as running mate to Ernest Bai Koroma. President Koroma is now serving his second term.

Mr Sam-Sumana has spent time studying and working in the US, according to a biography on the presidential website.

He said two weeks ago that he had chosen to be quarantined to "lead by example" in the battle against Ebola.

More that 3,500 people have died from Ebola in Sierra Leone, which along with Guinea and Liberia has seen the vast majority of deaths from the disease.