According to the report, three Bosnian citizens, two Macedonians and one Croatian citizen are members of the crew of a passenger plane which the Sarajevo-based "Arnoro" company leased to the "Air Max Gabon" company.
Croatian citizen Aleksandar Zovic is one of the six members of the crew who have been taken prisoner in Gabon, Nedzad Mirica of the Bosnian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. In a statement carried late last night by BHT 1, Mirica said the Croatian Foreign Ministry had been informed of the case.
The Croatian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that its consular department was informed by the Bosnian Foreign Ministry that the plane crew that was taken prisoner in Liberville, Gabon, included a Croatian citizen. The Ministry on Tuesday informed of the case the Croatian Embassy in Paris, which also covers Gabon, as well as the embassies in Cairo and Pretoria. The Ministry has requested an official confirmation of the report and an explanation as to what happened.
The Bosnian Foreign Ministry has been informed of this and measures have been taken to solve the problem. As Bosnia-Herzegovina and Gabon do not have diplomatic relations, the German Embassy in Gabon will act as a mediator. The Bosnian Foreign Ministry said efforts were being made to establish why the plane had flown to Gabon and if there were illegal activities involved.
The captain of the plane, Kiril Kaevski of Macedonia, said in a phone interview with BHT 1 last evening the crew had been given back their passports, but were still not in a situation to consider leaving Gabon.
Kaevski said that the crew were forced to fly on risky lines within Gabon. Zoran Vuckovic, director of the Arnor company, said the company's only plane had been leased to Air Max Gabon, which is reportedly based in Canada.
The plane has been leased since December 2004, however, Arnoro has tried to cancel the lease contract due to irregular payments, which may be the reason for the current situation.