Antananarivo - Security forces have shot dead a member of a gang that broke into a French diplomat's home and robbed guests at a dinner party, an official said on Thursday.
"My forces on Tuesday shot dead a man named Deba, one of the four robbers at the French diplomat's villa," the junior minister responsible for public security, Lucien Victor Razaknirina, said by telephone.
He said most of those present at the party had recognised the man, adding that inquiries were continuing.
The brazen attack targeted a private dinner attended by Rolland Brejon, the French consul, James Bond, the Madagascar country director of the World Bank, as well as other diplomats and their spouses.
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No one was injured in the incident, but the guests were robbed of their jewelry, cash and cellular phones at gunpoint by the thieves, who got into the compound by overpowering and tying up security guards, according to informed sources.
After the hour-long ordeal, the gunmen, some of whom wielded Kalashnikov-type assault rifles, left the residence and escaped in one of the guests' cars that was later found abandoned in the city, the sources said.
Police chief Ardel Andriantsymiangy said one man, thought to be the driver of the getaway car, had been detained.
An official who declined to be identified said he was the bodyguard of a senior figure.
Madagascar has seen an upsurge in crime in recent months, mainly attacks on homes and kidnappings, and there have been about two or three such incidents a week since November.
The country's largely ethnic Indian business community has usually been the target of such crimes, and Saturday's robbery was the first directed at diplomats, officials said. - Sapa-AFP
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