WORLD : Liberian Rebel Frees Hostages
Rebel leader Prince Johnson today freed foreign hostages his forces had kidnaped to provoke international intervention in Liberia’s bloody civil war.
The British Foreign Office said Johnson released all the hostages seized Monday and Tuesday, but it added that it is unclear how many people were freed.
On Tuesday, Johnson had presented 22 hostages from eight countries, including one American, to reporters at a news conference.
A Foreign Office spokesman in London said Britain is waiting for the hostages to come to Monrovia from the nearby town of Caldwell, where they are being held.
The American hostage was identified as Chris Mende, 27, a mining contractor from Sacramento, Calif.
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