India seeks Nigerian help on hostages

The Prime Minister of India, A.B. Vajpayee, has called the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo by telephone, seeking his assistance in securing the release of twenty-one Indian peacekeepers held hostage by rebels in Sierra Leone.

The Indian Foreign Ministry said President Obasanjo offered to contact leaders in the region and make every effort get the Indians freed.

The Indian soldiers, who were part of the UN peacekeeping contingent, were seized by the rebels last Monday. The Indian Foreign Ministry statement said the rebels had reneged on a pledge to release the peacekeepers on Friday and had made what it said were unacceptable political demands.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service