Liberian soldiers have hijacked a cargo ship off the coast of the war-wracked west African country and forced its Croatian crew to take on about 1,000 refugees, Croatian officials and reports said. The soldiers seized the "Benty" on Sunday, forced the captain to sail into the port of Harper on Liberia's southernmost tip where it took on the refugees and then headed north for the capital Monrovia, the reports said. The Croatian foreign ministry confirmed the hijacking and said it would do "everything possible to peacefully end" the drama but did not elaborate on who had seized the ship. Rebels from a group known as the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) seized Harper and a large chunk of territory in the south-east of the country on Monday, triggering fierce clashes with government troops. The ship's captain Josip Alborghetti was quoted by the Jutarnji List newspaper in Croatia as saying the soldiers had pledged to free the crew once the boat lands in Monrovia where the refugees will be safe.
| The UN, for what their estimate is worth, say that MODEL and LURD control 40-60% of Liberia now. Could we be seeing Mr Taylor going back to working in a gas station in Massachussetts soon? Or will he end up doing a Mussolini? |
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