PARIS, June 21: Twelve French mercenaries, on their way to Africa with an apparent intention of overthrowing — and perhaps assassinating — Madagascar’s new head of state, Marc Ravalomanana, have seen their private plane intercepted and returned to French soil.

Their Falcon-900 executive jet touched down at Lyon-Satolas airport on Thursday, and the French “dogs of war” were immediately arrested by the French border police.

The mercenaries had been recruited in France by a French company and a few of them were ex-French army officers.

Queried as to what France can do with regard to the arrested mercenaries, a diplomatic source said, “not very much, especially as we found no arms on their plane, so in terms of French law there’s really very little we can do.”

As for the company that recruited them, it’s evident, says the source, that they will be reprimanded, indeed may see their operations permanently shut down.

Quai d’Orsay spokesman Francois Rivasseau said that France would “no more tolerate” the free-wheeling kind of mercenary operations that saw French special forces make or break regimes at will in many parts of the world, notably in Africa.