|
Kidnapped British army officer set free
Update to yesterdayâs post. Slightly EFL.A British army officer and his four Nepalese helpers who were kidnapped by Maoist rebels in Nepal have been set free. All five men are reported to be unharmed. They have been in contact with the district headquarters, said Prem Narayan Sharma, chief of Baglung district. They were left by the rebels at a school at Bihu village, near the area where they were first taken away. Sharma said he expected them to reach the district headquarters later. It is about three hours drive to the nearest airport at Pokhara from the district headquarters. Hundreds of soldiers and police had been deployed in the area and were scouring the rough terrain on foot in a hunt to look for the abducted men. It was the first time the rebels had abducted a foreigner since their insurgency began in 1996. The rebels want to abolish Nepalâs constitutional monarchy and set up a communist state, and cite Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong as their The British officer was trekking in the area, recruiting young Nepalese men to work as Gurkha soldiers in the British army. The rebels are opposed to Nepalese men working for foreign armies and call them mercenaries. The British Embassy in Katmandu has also confirmed that the team of five British Gurkhas had been in contact but said they are waiting for information. Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-21 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=20159 |