NZer faces rebel court in Ivory Coast

The Red Cross says a New Zealand man being held in Ivory Coast is to face a court run by the rebels holding him.

Brian Hamish Thomas Sands had been detained by rebels, who claim the 36-year-old is a mercenary and was found with equipment and telephone numbers of government-loyalist politicians and international mercenary companies.

Kim Gordon-Bates, a spokesman for the Red Cross, told Newstalk ZB Mr Sands was being allowed to correspond with his family in New Zealand while he awaited the trial.

He said: "If of course the family wish to send messages we will convey them to him on the understanding that whatever is written will be read by the military censors."

The Red Cross could not get involved in the case, he said.

Earlier it was confirmed Mr Sands was once in the French Foreign Legion. However, he was thrown out after 10 months because he was not up to military life and drank too much, a spokesman said.

A spokesman for the French Foreign Legion said today Mr Sands had served from November 1989 until September 1990.

His contract was resigned because he had not adapted to military life and had refused to obey orders.

"He was officially a legionnaire but he never served in a Foreign Legion battalion. He never served in operational units of the Foreign Legion," the spokesman told NewstalkZB.

"He was completely stubborn -- he refused to obey orders. He drank hard and so on and so on and due to the fact that we have equipment which is very large, we were well based to resign his contract."

The spokesman said Mr Sands had attended basic training and boot camps during five months but as he was undisciplined, his contract had been resigned by the military authority.

It was "completely false" that Mr Sands had been a sniper or a diver.

"I don't know if he had mental problems. He had an awful mentality but I don't know if he was crazy," the spokesman said.

New Zealand does not have an embassy in the Ivory Coast but Foreign Minister Phil Goff said today the British ambassador had been in contact with the rebel group called the New Forces.

"The reassurance that we have received through this channel is that Hamish Sands is being, quote unquote 'well looked after'," Mr Goff told National Radio.

"The next step is to try to organise a visit either by the embassy or by the International Red Cross to establish that fact and to make direct contact with Mr Sands."

A rebel spokesman, Amadou Kone, was reported by the The Association Press (AP) as saying that Mr Sands was suspected of working undercover for Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.

However, AP said the Ivory Coast government denied the charge and said it did not use mercenaries.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB, HERALD STAFF