Relief worker held by government forces

A relief worker has been held by Liberian government forces at Bo Waterside, near Liberia's border with Sierra Leone, officials in the capital, Monrovia reported.

Officials of the Liberia Refugee, Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC - a state body) said on Friday that Nyeku Na, who works with a Liberian NGO, MERCI, was picked up on Wednesday.
He had just returned from Sierra Leone, where he sought refuge after the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) overran a MERCI camp in Sinje in June, abducting five nurses working for the NGO.

“He was picked up by government forces and held for a couple of days. We have asked the government to bring him to Monrovia and are appealing for his release,” Saah Nyumaa, deputy executive director of LRRRC, told IRIN by phone in Monrovia. Government sources said they were not aware of the arrest.

The nurses abducted in June are still in captivity. In the August issue of its newsletter, Humanitarian Voices, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Activities, OCHA, appealed for their release.

"Two months after they were captured, the fate of the nurses abducted from Sinje by the rebel group known as LURD remains unknown," OCHA said. "We call on international and regional actors to persuade the LURD to release the relief workers immediately and unconditionally."