Detained missionaries sighted

Two Roman Catholic priests who were abducted by Sierra Leonean rebels last week have been sighted not far from where they were captured and appear to be in good health.

“Some people say they have seen them in the same general area - in Sierra Leone close to the Guinean border,” Bishop Georgio Biguzzi, who is in Freetown, told IRIN on Monday. Biguzzi is the bishop of Makeni in central Sierra Leone.

Fathers Franco Manganello, 62, and Vittorio Mosele, 64, were abducted from the town of Pamalap, Guinea, by suspected Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in an attack that left at least 27 people dead on 6 September. The village was looted and burned.

Biguzzi said efforts to secure the release of the priests had made difficult by the fact that the RUF was not a cohesive group and the abductors could well be acting on their own. He said he was more hopeful for their safety because the priests knew the rebel commanders well. “They used to go to the mission to chat with them,” Biguzzi said. “That is why I think they will treat them fairly but I don’t understand why they don’t release them.”

Biguzzi expressed concern about the health of Mosele, who had been captured by the rebels once before, because he is recovering from a car accident. The Missionary News Agency (MISNA) reported on Monday that the Church of Sierra Leone had suffered the highest number of abductions in Africa. The targets had included one archbishop, 13 nuns, 15 priests and one volunteer.

“We must also not forget how many have lost their lives,” MISNA quoted Biguzzi as saying. Two priests, four nuns and three lay volunteers have been killed.