Detained PM staff released
2009-08-28 11:22
Maputo - Staff members working for the Madagascar prime minister have been released after being arrested in Mozambique, where they had come for talks on the island's transitional government, police said Thursday.
The staff members were arrested on weapons charges on their way to the power sharing talks, which have brought together the Indian Ocean Island's political leaders in the Mozambican capital Maputo.
Mozambican police said they detained the staffers to Prime Minister Monja Roindefo because they entered the country carrying firearms without the proper permits.
But Pedro Cossa, national police spokesperson, said the Mozambican and Madagascan governments had reached an agreement for their release.
"They were released... There are no charges against them," Cossa said.
Madagascar was thrown into crisis in March when Andry Rajoelina, the former mayor of the capital Antananarivo, ousted president Marc Ravalomanana with military backing following weeks of violent protests.
The rival leaders are in Maputo to name a transitional government to return the country to constitutional rule.
Prime minister Roindefo is part of Rajoelina's delegation to the talks.
- SAPA
