/ 23 January 2001

ABDUCTED RADIO OPERATOR FREED

A RADIO operator for the UN refugee agency in the West African state of Guinea has been freed in neighbouring Liberia, 47 days after he was abducted by gunmen. Joseph Loua, a 51-year-old father of five, was seized December 6 as his home town of Guekedou was overrun by rebels in a border area packed with hundreds of thousands of refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone. Red Cross officials described him as being in good shape” after he was freed. – AFP