Italy accuses Britain after hostage rescue bid fails
Source: Agencies |
March 10, 2012, Saturday
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AN attempted rescue by British special forces and Nigerian troops of a British and an Italian hostage ended with a blood-splattered house and a dispute between two European nations.
On Thursday, military forces punched through to a house where the two hostages were held but by the time they arrived the two men were dead. British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman, Steve Field, said early indications were that both men were murdered by their captors before they could be rescued.
Gunfire echoed throughout the Mabera neighborhood in the northwestern city of Sokoto during the nine-hour operation, said residents. Nigeria's military also used an armored personnel carrier to attempt to storm the building.
British military and intelligence officers had been working in Nigeria for several months ahead of the operation, before a contingent of special forces - drawn from the elite Special Boat Service - was deployed in recent weeks, officials said.
Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara had been working on a bank construction project in the city before their kidnap last May. The kidnappers claimed ties to al-Qaida.
Penicillin, anti-malarial tablets and other toiletries were found in the house, suggesting that the two men had been held hostage there for some time.
Italy's president yesterday accused Britain of an "inexplicable" failure to consult with his country before the rescue attempt was launched. But British Foreign Secretary William said there was no time to confer and that Italy was informed only once the rescue mission was under way.
"We had to make a decision very quickly to go ahead with this operation, we had very limited time, that constrained how much we were able to consult others," Hague said at a meeting in Denmark.
Sokoto is in northwest Nigeria, near the border with Niger where al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, has kidnapped foreigners.
Three people were arrested after the rescue mission began, said a Nigerian security official, and others arrested before the operation had provided information about the whereabouts of the hostages.
On Thursday, military forces punched through to a house where the two hostages were held but by the time they arrived the two men were dead. British Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman, Steve Field, said early indications were that both men were murdered by their captors before they could be rescued.
Gunfire echoed throughout the Mabera neighborhood in the northwestern city of Sokoto during the nine-hour operation, said residents. Nigeria's military also used an armored personnel carrier to attempt to storm the building.
British military and intelligence officers had been working in Nigeria for several months ahead of the operation, before a contingent of special forces - drawn from the elite Special Boat Service - was deployed in recent weeks, officials said.
Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara had been working on a bank construction project in the city before their kidnap last May. The kidnappers claimed ties to al-Qaida.
Penicillin, anti-malarial tablets and other toiletries were found in the house, suggesting that the two men had been held hostage there for some time.
Italy's president yesterday accused Britain of an "inexplicable" failure to consult with his country before the rescue attempt was launched. But British Foreign Secretary William said there was no time to confer and that Italy was informed only once the rescue mission was under way.
"We had to make a decision very quickly to go ahead with this operation, we had very limited time, that constrained how much we were able to consult others," Hague said at a meeting in Denmark.
Sokoto is in northwest Nigeria, near the border with Niger where al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, has kidnapped foreigners.
Three people were arrested after the rescue mission began, said a Nigerian security official, and others arrested before the operation had provided information about the whereabouts of the hostages.
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