Liberian Government Releases British TV Crew

M O N R O V I A, Liberia, Aug. 25 -- Under mounting international pressure, the Liberian government today released a British television crew that was being held on charges of espionage in the West African country.

Justice Minister Eddington Varmah said the government had agreed to release the four journalists from London-based Insight News Television — two Britons, a South African and a Sierra Leonean — in exchange for an apology.

“As far as the government is concerned, with the dropping of these charges, this case is closed,” Varmah said at a news conference.

In a short handwritten letter to President Charles Taylor, the journalists apologized “to both his excellency the president of Liberia and the people of Liberia for any offense that our actionor statements have caused.”

In a live interview with CNN by satellite, Taylor said the Liberian government had reviewed the journalists’ appeal and apology and decided to release them immediately.

“We are not expelling the journalists, but they are free toleave whenever they want,” he said.

Varmah said the government agreed to drop the charges on “humanitarian grounds,” and not for lack of evidence.

Tired But Relieved

The men, who said they were under instructions not to speak to the media, were released from Monrovia’s central prison earlier today and accompanied to the international airport by British and Sierra Leonean diplomats.

Looking tired but relieved, they met with reporters in the VIP lounge drinking bottles of mineral water and watching coverage of their release on television before catching a charter flight to nearby Abidjan, Ivory Coast, en route home.

“This will be an enormous relief for the men’s families,” British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said in London. “I am grateful to all those friends in the international community who have supported our calls for the men’s swift release.”

A spokeswoman for Channel Four said the four journalists had arrived at Abidjan and were establishing contact with their relatives. Journalist Sorious Samura, director David Barrie and cameraman Tim Lambon were en route to Britain. A citizen of Sierra Leone, Samura had been working in Britain for almost a year before taking on this assignment. Samura has been honored for his film Cry Freetown about the 1999 invasion of Sierra Leone’s capital.