News In Brief

Sabena asked not to fly poached ivory to Belgium

The World Wildlife Fund Tuesday called on the Belgian national airline Sabena to stop transporting poached ivory from Burundi to Belgium. The Swiss-based environmental body said the traffic involved the deaths of some 2,500 elephants a year in Burundi's neighbors

Zaire and Tanzania and said that over the past 10 years Sabena had carried at least 300 tons of ivory to Belgium.

WWF Director General Charles de Haes said continued shipments of smuggled ivory by Sabena contravened the spirit of Belgium's participation in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.