A run-in with mercenaries jars Indian Ocean resort

At least 500 tourists, mostly Western Europeans, remained shut in their luxurious beach hotels Nov. 30 by a 24-hour curfew imposed after a band of white mercenaries, apparently attempting a coup, clashed with Seychelles troops last week.

The authorities in this tropical Indian Ocean resort have clamped down after a battle for the international airport during which some 40 escaping mercenaries hijacked an Air India plane to the South African port of Durban. The 44 men taken off the hijacked aircraft, handcuffed in pairs, are due to appear in court in Durban this week.