41.   Bueschenfeld declined to comment on whether the arrested man had links to the radical-rightist scene.

42.   Both sides say the arrested men were on their side of the border.

43.   But a check by the British embassy in Athens found that the arrested man was not who he claimed to be.

44.   But Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, British diplomats in Yemen and the lawyer for the arrested men said they had not yet been charged.

45.   But Atazhakov managed to fend off the officers, took the hostages, and demanded the release of the arrested men, ITAR-Tass said.

46.   But he would not discuss the substance of what were said to be written documents implicating the arrested men.

47.   Communications Minister Henri Cesar Sama, in a bitter verbal counterattack on national television, claimed the arrested men had been recruiting thugs to destabilize the Ivory Coast.

48.   Further details about the arrested men were unavailable because they were not carrying their passports, he said.

49.   He also arranges for the chief prosecutor to squelch any investigation and protect the two arrested men.

50.   He said the arrested man, Chaiyapeuk, claimed he thought he was simply helping detain a fugitive at the request of North Korean diplomats.