Nairobi, Kenya — Kenya’s state airline accused the Republic of Congo’s army of holding two of its employees since last Friday over cargo issues.
Kenya Airways, known as KQ, said on Friday that employees were arrested at its airport office in the capital, Kinshasa, for lack of documentation for cargo the airline had not accepted.
The cargo has been described as “valuable,” but its contents have not been revealed.
“All efforts to explain to military officials that KQ had not accepted the cargo due to incomplete documentation proved futile,” the airline’s CEO Allan Kilavuka said in a statement.
He said staff’s mobile phones were confiscated and colleagues and embassy officials were only given a few minutes with them.
The airline filed a request with the military court for the staff to be released and the request was granted on Thursday, he said.
“Despite court orders, the military intelligence unit is still holding them incommunicado,” the statement said.
The airline urged the governments of Kenya and Congo to ensure the matter is resolved.
The two governments have not commented on the issue.
Kenya and the Congo enjoy cordial relations, and Kenya participates in UN-backed peacekeeping missions in the Congo.