Backpackers considering a visit to Sierra Leone would be advised to avoid the African country, new reports suggest.
With the African nation wracked by election violence between rival parties, president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has claimed that he will have no qualms with imposing a state of emergency.
The second round of the country's presidential elections has been tainted by two days of conflict, with police in the capital, Freetown, forced to fire tear gas into the streets on Sunday and Monday.
In a televised address, Mr Kabbah said: "All those responsible for the violence and lawlessness should be prepared for the consequences.
"The government shall not hesitate for one moment to declare a state of public emergency if the current state of intimidation, molestation and violent acts is not stopped immediately."
He added that a halt to the violence was imperative if the country were to continue its emergence from the civil war which devastated the country in the 1990s.
