Liberia says 21 Indian hostages freed

MONROVIA, JUNE 29. Liberia said today that rebels in Sierra Leone had freed 21 Indian U.N. Peacekeepers and handed them over to the Liberian authorities. The Government statement did not make clear whether the 21 soldiers were a group seized in the town of Kuiva on June 5 or came from a separate contingent surrounded in nearby Kailahun since May.

``President, Mr. Charles Taylor, revealed today that 21 of the over 200 Indian U.N. Peacekeepers held hostage by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have been released to the Liberian Government,'' the statement said.

``The released hostages are already on the Liberian soil and were expected in Monrovia today for onward departure to Sierra Leone,'' it added.

The RUF fighters took hostage hundreds of peacekeepers in May, following a dispute over disarmament under a 1999 peace deal. They released them all, mostly through Liberia.

- Reuters

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