Military ruler Capt. Valentine Strasser has been ousted in a coup, state-run radio reported Tuesday.
A radio announcement at 3 p.m. said Brig. Julius Maada Bio replaced the 30-year-old Strasser, who came to power in 1992 in another military coup.Soldiers surrounded the radio station in the capital, Freetown, but there was no immediate report of bloodshed.
The announcement, read by Lt. Col. Karefa Kargbo, said Strasser had been given safe passage out of the west African country, but he did not say whether Strasser had left yet or where he would go.
The radio warned people to stay off the streets, and heavily armed soldiers blocked government buildings and stopped traffic on the road leading to the presidential headquarters. A curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. was imposed.