OUAGADOUGOU, 13 February (IRIN) - Authorities
in Burkina Faso on Thursday handed over to the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) six Ivorian gendarmes (paramilitary police) who
fled their country after a rebel war broke out there.
"We are repatriating the gendarmes
at the request of the CICR [ICRC in French] and the Ivorian government,"
Col Mamadou Traore, chief of staff of Burkina Faso's gendarmes, told IRIN
after a short ceremony at the headquarters of the gendarmerie in Ouagadougou.
He said the men, who arrived in Burkina Faso between 21 September and 31 October, had all indicated that they wanted to return home. They were expected to be airlifted to Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday.
[ENDS]
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