An Irish Christian Brother, Brother Noel Bradshaw (49), is believed to have been taken hostage by rebels in Sierra Leone. A native of Lea, Portarlington, Co Laois, he had been working in Makeni mission about 100 miles from the capital, Freetown, for more than 10 years.
He lived in a leper colony and taught war victims. He is believed to have been abducted in late February with an Italian and a Sierra Leonean priest. His brother Hugh told The Irish Times he only learned of the disappearance last night.