23 Guineans returned to Conakry on Sunday on board a World Food Programme aircraft after being released by their rebel captors in the eastern town of Daru, a UNHCR information officer, Ibrahima Diane, told IRIN on Monday.
The hostages were captured following raids into Guinea by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) on 6 December 2000 and 9 March 2001. Upon their arrival in the Guinean capital, they received first aid from the Red Cross before being placed under the care of the government’s refugee coordination bureau, Diane said. He said the bureau would later transport them to their homes in the southern border town of Gueckedou.
The UN Mission in Sierra Leone, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Guinean embassy in Sierra Leone all participated the effort to obtain their release. According to one of the women, the RUF was still holding more than 100 Guinean captives in Daru, Diane reported.
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