DAKAR — Sierra Leone's vice president, Samuel Sam-Sumana, said on Saturday that he had requested asylum at the U.S. embassy in Freetown after soldiers surrounded his home, following his expulsion from the ruling All People's Congress (APC) party this month.

A government spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Sumana was expelled from President Ernest Bai Koroma's APC party after an investigation accused him of creating his own rival political movement, leaving doubt over whether he could continue as vice president.