Two US Soliders Found Dead in Hotel room in Ghana

Jan 1 (Reuters) - Two U.S. Navy sailors were found dead on Tuesday in their hotel room while on shore leave in the West African country of Ghana, the U.S. Navy said.

The cause of death was unknown and was being investigated by Ghanaian authorities in cooperation with U.S. Navy officials, the Navy said in a statement.

"Currently there is no suggestion of foul play," Lieutenant Patrick Foughty, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet, told Reuters by telephone from Naples, Italy.

The sailors, who were not identified, were stationed aboard the Fort McHenry, a 600-foot (185-
metre) dock landing ship based in Little Creek, Virginia.

The vessel was docked in the Ghanaian port of Tema, some 18 miles (28 km) east of the capital Accra, as part of a U.S. naval partnership programme in West Africa.

During a six-month mission, the Fort McHenry will train West African navies to fight drug smuggling and maritime security threats in a region which supplies nearly a fifth of U.S. oil imports.

Foughty said the sailor's deaths would not prevent the training mission from going ahead.

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