Sister of ?mercenary? pleads for his life

Wellington
The sister of a New Zealand man detained on suspicion of mercenary activity in the civil war-torn West African country Ivory Coast has appealed for those holding her brother to free him unharmed.
Catherine Sands-Wearing said her brother Hamish Sands had had behavioural problems in the past and that "may have contributed to his current situation".
"Our family are all very worried and concerned for his safety," Ms Sands-Wearing, supported by her husband Donovan Wearing, told a news conference in Wellington.
Ivory Coast rebels were reported saying they had arrested Mr Sands, who they accused of planning to assassinate some of their political and military leaders. In a statement, the rebels said they had detained a man they named as Brian Hamish Thomas as he was on his way to the rebel stronghold of Bouake in a bus from the main city Abidjan.
They said his luggage contained a flak jacket, maps, satellite navigation equipment and contact details for members of the government army and of President Laurent Gbagbo's party, as well as for "mercenary recruiting firms".
"At this stage of our investigation, it has emerged that the objective of this mercenary was the physical elimination of some of the political and military heads of the New Forces (rebel movement)," the statement said.
The arrested man had told the rebels he had served in the French Foreign Legion between 1986 and 1994 and had been in contact with senior Ivorian government officials.
It was confirmed last night his full name is Brian Hamish Thomas Sands, known as Hamish. Mr Sands' sister said her brother was 36 and grew up in Hawke's Bay.
He had been overseas for several years and had little contact with his family during that time, Ms Sands-Wearing said.
"Hamish has never been in the New Zealand Army. We're uncertain whether he has ever served in the French Foreign Legion or in any other military force, and as far as we're concerned those reports are entirely speculative," she said.
Ms Sands-Wearing would not elaborate on her brother's behavioural problems.
She said family members were last in contact with her brother by email about a fortnight ago, but contact had been sporadic during the past 20 years.
Family members did not know why her brother had been in Africa.
Prime Minister Helen Clark yesterday confirmed Mr Sands was holding a valid New Zealand passport.
Earlier yesterday Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said there were suggestions Mr Sands had mental health problems and had invented some of the information the rebels had about him.
Mr Goff said if Mr Sands had made the comments claimed by the rebels, it put his life in jeopardy.
"Our goal would be to persuade his captors that this is not factual, that this man does not constitute a threat and to try to secure his release. But I do not underestimate the difficulty that we will have in trying to secure that end," he said.
Officials had not yet contacted the rebel group holding Mr Sands but were trying to establish contact through British embassy representatives in the Ivory Coast.
New Zealand officials had talked to the British Foreign Office yesterday and were waiting to speak with diplomats in Ivory Coast.
The Government would do everything it could do to help but "there is very limited help that any government can give in a situation such as this", Mr Goff said. ? NZPA