Mercenaries off to Madagascar
19/06/2002 13:57  - (SA)  

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Dar es Salaam - French "mercenaries" allegedly on their way to embattled Madagascar to fight for former president Didier Ratsiraka were still in Tanzania on Wednesday, airport sources here said.

A Falcon 900 carrying 15 French nationals heading to Madagascar landed in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday to refuel.

A senior military officer loyal to Ravalomanana said in Madagascar that they were mercenaries hired by Ratsiraka. But he also alleged the men had already arrived in a Madagascar town controlled by Ratsiraka.

Troops loyal to both men, who have engaged in a bitter power struggle since a December presidential election, have clashed over the last two weeks in the north of the Indian Ocean island.

Sources in Dar es Salaam said the Falcon's pilot had intended to fly straight on to Madagascar but Tanzanian authorities informed him he had no permission to land in the capital, Antananarivo.

All the plane's passengers spent the night in a hotel in the Tanzanian capital. - Sapa-AFP

 

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