Guinea refugee tension rises

Guineans threatened in Liberia are advised to call the police

The Guinean Government has begun releasing some of the thousands of Liberian and Sierra Leonean nationals held in detention since being rounded up at the weekend.

The harassment of refugees in Conakry had already prompted incidents of retaliation against Guinean nationals in the Sierra Leone capital Freetown.

And in the Liberian capital Monrovia on Monday, government troops surrounded the Guinean embassy.

The director of police in Liberia told the BBC the embassy action had been taken to protect Guinean nationals after threats of retaliation.

Tension between Guinea and Liberia has been rising after a series of armed incidents near their border, and regional organisations have expressed alarm about the spreading crisis.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, between 800 and 1,000 refugees were released from detention by Guinea on Monday.

Rising tension

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed concern that tension between the Guinea and Liberia might have an adverse effect on Sierra Leone, which has borders with both.

Guinea hosts about half a million refugees who have fled conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In Liberia, Director of Police Paul Mulbah told the BBC's Focus on Africa that the police had received a number of telephone calls threatening retaliation against Guinean nationals.

"Some of the people who made the calls even identified themselves and said they were organising gangs to just retaliate on this side," he said.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leoneans have returned home from Guinea, recounting tales of horror, and this has resulted in revenge attacks.

Irate youths have attacked Guinean nationals, who are mainly business people, beating them up and looting their property.

Accusations

Guinean President Lansana Conte has blamed refugees for helping armed dissidents who launched three border attacks this month.

Conte: Refugees should go home

About 80 people were killed and 10 others are missing.

Resentment has been growing in Guinea and on Saturday President Lansana Conte said he wanted all the refugees rounded up and either sent home or confined in camps.

For his part, President Charles Taylor of Liberia says Guinea is harbouring rebels who have been waging an armed insurgency inside Liberia near the border since July.

Guinea denies the charge.

The border area between the three countries is volatile as both Liberia and Sierra Leone recover from long civil conflicts.