Madagascar is to step up security after an attack at gunpoint during a French diplomat's dinner party. Reports say six gunmen took part in the raid stealing cash, jewellery and mobile phones from guests at the French deputy consul's home.
The authorities will now increase security patrols in the diplomatic quarter of the capital, Antananarivo.
Police say raids have increased against the business community, but this is the first aimed at diplomats.
"We had already been sending patrols through the diplomatic quarter before this incident, but we will reinforce them," said the secretary-general of the Malagasy foreign ministry, Jean-Pierre Rakotoarivony.
"We also will reinforce the safety for all diplomats who ask for it," he told AFP news agency.
The dinner party on Saturday was attended by other diplomats, including French consul Rolland Brejon, and James Bond, the Madagascar country director of the World Bank, and their spouses.
No-one was injured in the incident.
An umbrella group of nine Malagasy business organisations have called on the authorities to take urgent action to stop increasingly bold criminals.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
