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FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) - Sierra Leone says a man who has been charged in the U.S. with brokering a uranium deal intended for Iran is in fact not a citizen of the West African country and was traveling on a fake passport.
Sierra Leone's information ministry announced late Wednesday that the passport Patrick Campbell was arrested with had been issued in 2004 "through very dubious means."
Officials say Campbell is not a Sierra Leonean citizen but "an apparent common criminal using a false name."
They said their investigation revealed he first boarded for the journey in Nigeria, not in Sierra Leone.
The 33-year-old man was arrested last week in New York and is accused of traveling to the U.S. with a sample of uranium hidden in the soles of his shoes in his luggage.
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