Hopes rise for Briton charged with murder of 13 people in Central African Republic
Diplomatic efforts to free David Simpson, a 24-year-old from North Yorkshire, who is being held in prison in the Central African Republic for allegedly murdering 13 people, have been stepped up, as his MP, Anne McIntosh, described his situation as "very serious indeed".
Simpson, who was working for a safari company, said that he came across a pile of mutilated bodies in the remote east of the country, but after he reported this to the authorities he and his colleagues were arrested and charged with the murders, a crime that carries the death penalty.
Speaking to the Observer, Simpson and his family, game farmers from the Yorkshire village of Gillamoor, expressed frustration at the lack of diplomatic efforts being made on his behalf. However, on Friday afternoon Henry Bellingham, a Foreign Office minister, said that he had met Antoine Gambi, the foreign minister of the Central African Republic, who had been "sympathetic" to Simpson's case.
McIntosh said: "Henry Bellingham phoned me to tell me that Antoine Gambi is going to raise it with the justice minister and the police commissioner. He has also requested that our non-resident ambassador can present his credentials, which will open the path to formal talks.
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/15/british-efforts-kidnapped-david-simpson-africa
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