Sierra Leone's Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana has been sacked for seeking political asylum in a foreign embassy, the president's office has said.
President Ernest Bai Koroma had dismissed him because he had "abandoned" his duties, it added according to the BBC on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Sam-Sumana said he had asked for asylum in the US because his life was in danger.
It is unclear whether the constitution gives the president the power to dismiss his deputy.
The governing All People's Congress had earlier expelled Sam-Sumana after accusing him of fuelling violence, and trying to form a breakaway party in his home district of Kono. He denied the allegations.