/ 2 August 2001

TANZANIAN BOYS SCOUTS SEEK US ASYLUM

FOUR Tanzanian teenagers, who went missing at an international scouting convention in Virginia, have turned up in Washington, turned themselves in to police and now are seeking political asylum, authorities here said on Tuesday. “The four boy scouts … have been found safe and unharmed,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in a statement. The boys, who are between the ages of 14 and 17, are being held at a federal immigration detention center in the city of Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, according to local press reports. Their names were not released. The youths were reported missing by their adult scoutmaster on Sunday afternoon. Authorities were unable to immediately provide the basis for the possible asylum application. – AFP

–>