A former ruler of the southern African kingdom of Lesotho has been arrested and charged with the murder of an Irish aid worker, Mr Ken Hickey, who was stabbed to death there a fortnight ago, according to a diplomatic source.
Major-General Elias Ramaema was arrested over the stabbing of Mr Hickey (75) on January 21st in the Lesotho capital of Maseru, the source said. The dead man was killed by a gang outside his house and it was believed at the time that he may have disturbed a burglary.
"Ramaema, his son and daughter and five other people were arrested and charged with the murder of Hickey and the theft of his vehicle, wallet and mobile phone," the source, who declined to be identified, said in a telephone interview from Maseru.
Two of the five people arrested are thought to be South Africans, he said. The source said Gen Ramaema and his family were arrested on January 30th. A police comment was unavailable last night.
Mr Hickey was heading a project funded by Irish Aid to build foot bridges in rural parts of the impoverished mountain kingdom of two million people.
Gen Ramaema served as the last ruler of the military government that handed over power to civilian rule in 1993. Lesotho is surrounded on all sides by South Africa and is heavily reliant on its neighbour for imports and exports.
Gen Ramaema came to power in a coup in 1991. King Moshoeshoe II had been exiled by the army in 1990. He went into exile in London. The armed forces accused the king of being a hindrance to the country's democratisation programme. In 1991 the armed forces went on strike for higher wages and a bloodless coup deposed the government. A council under then Col Ramaema was set up.