Armed men kidnap aid workers

Six foreign aid workers have been taken hostage in Kolahun, Lofa County, some 250 km north of Liberia's capital, Monrovia, news organisations reported on Thursday. Three of those taken work for Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN) while the others are from Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) and a US charity called International Rescue Committee. Eyewitnesses reported that armed men entered MERLIN's compound in Kolahun, near the Sierra Leone and Guinea borders, on Wednesday and abducted midwife Sara Nam (30), logistician David Heed (26) and doctor Mike Roe (33) according to a MERLIN news release sent to IRIN. All three are British. The other abductees are a Norwegian man and an Italian woman who work for MSF, and a British male working with the US charity, BBC reported. "MERLIN is very concerned about the situation and we are doing everything we can to secure our colleagues' safe release," Director of Operations Jules Pieters said. Steps are being taken to ensure the safety of other staff in locations around Liberia, MERLIN added. The MERLIN team is in Lofa County to rehabilitate hospitals and clinics destroyed by seven years of civil war. It supports 21 health centres and two hospitals, including Kolahun hospital, throughout Liberia with training equipment and basic drugs and also runs a disease control programme there. The kidnapping came as Liberia's President Charles Taylor announced that the area had been invaded by "dissident forces" from neighbouring Guinea.