36 'mercenaries' off to island

2002-06-21 15:42

Antananarivo - The spokesperson of Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana said on Friday that 36 mercenaries had flown out of South Africa to "assassinate" the head of state of the Indian Ocean island.

This followed one day after twelve Frenchmen, suspected of being mercenaries recruited by Ratsiraka, who has been in France since last week, left Paris on Tuesday on board a private Falcon 900 jet bound for Madagascar.

They were detained in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, where they had stopped to refuel, after French officials alerted their Tanzanian counterparts that they were suspicious of the intentions of the plane's dozen passengers.

"As soon as we heard that a private plane carrying passengers with suspicious intentions was flying towards Madagascar, we took the appropriate measures to prevent the flight, in liaison with the African authorities concerned," said French foreign ministry spokesperson Bernard Valero.

Airport officials in Dar es Salaam said the group of heavy-set Frenchmen had taken off again in their chartered Falcon on Wednesday afternoon, bound for Paris, after their attempt to fly to Madagascar had been thwarted.

But on Thursday morning, sources at the Bourget military airport north of Paris, where the plane had been scheduled to land, said the private jet had "without doubt landed somewhere else", even though police appeared to be on hand to greet its arrival. - Sapa-AFP.

- SAPA