War In Sierra Leone

Sir, - In John O'Shea's "World View" (The Irish Times, May 13th), he made the comment that "the British have sent in troops, …

Sir, - In John O'Shea's "World View" (The Irish Times, May 13th), he made the comment that "the British have sent in troops, but only in order to evacuate their own expatriate civilians". Those troops were also tasked to evacuate EU and Commonwealth citizens, who, according to one newspaper report, include Irish nuns working in Sierra Leone. To date, 450 people have been evacuated, including 17 US citizens. I would not like your readers to think that British troops would ignore their fellow European Union members, which is what John O'Shea implies. - Yours, etc.,

John Wilson, Defence Attache, The British Embassy, Merrion Road, Dublin 4.