Missing priest to be released "soon", sources say

A Catholic priest, who along with 60 blind people went missing from a parish in Tubmanburg, western Liberia, more than a week ago, is expected to be freed "soon", sources told IRIN on Monday.

Catholic Archbishop Michael Francis told IRIN from the Liberian capital, Monrovia, that he had received information suggesting that Father Garry Jenkins would be released "soon". He said, however, that he did not know the exact day.

"We have concrete information that Father Jenkins is in Voinjama [northern Liberia] and will be released "soon". There are people coordinating his release and we were told they may try to get him out through Guinea," Francis said. "We received information also that he is good health. He is there with two other people, one of them being his catechist."

According to Francis, the whereabouts of the 60 blind people was not very clear "although we heard from news reports that they could be in some villages".

No ransom was asked for by the rebels, he said, adding that nobody knew the exact circumstances under which Jenkins and the rest were taken away. "It is possible they were caught up in the cross-fire on the Friday the attack took place in that area," Francis said. "He usually left Monrovia on Wednesdays to go to his parish, St. Dominique, to check on the handicapped and visually impaired displaced people who were under his care. He would then return to Monrovia on Sunday. This particular week, he travelled to the parish on Thursday and on Friday there was an attack and he has not been seen since."

A spokesman for the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), Charles Bennie, confirmed to IRIN on Monday that Father Jenkins has been, and was still in their hands in Voinjama. "But sources on the ground have told me that he is to be released soon because our men are trying to see that the release goes on as smoothly as possible," Bennie said.

In his view, the release has taken this long because Voinjama is far away, inaccessible and "we don't have any cars to travel in to this place".

Bennie added: "Father Jenkins, the two Liberians with him and our men all went to that place on foot. They were not kidnapped, I must say. There was fierce fighting where they were around the parish and our men actually just decided to take them away for their own safety and we did our best to save them."

"They were well looked after. They were eating whatever our men ate although there was neither water nor electricity in Voinjama," he added.