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Maoists forced kidnap officer into eight-hour route march
...Subjected hapless captives to many excruciating hours of communist philosophisingEFL A British Army officer kidnapped by Maoist rebels in Nepal was released yesterday and described being abducted and marched for eight hours to a remote camp. Lt Col Adrian Griffith, kidnapped with three Gurkha soldiers and three porters, said he and his group had been treated well during 40 hours in captivity. Col Griffith, looking fit, told The Daily Telegraph that the rebels appeared in the village of Lekhani, 180 miles west of Kathmandu, on Sunday evening wearing plain clothes. He said his group was "abducted" while on a mission to recruit Nepalese into the Gurkhas. After taking Col Griffith and his men aside, the Maoists "made it clear they wanted a word with us, some distance away". As they began their march into the remote countryside "it soon became clear âsome distance awayâ meant a very long way. "We were marched by stages through the night. Itâs difficult to know how far. We had no idea how long they would keep us." After eight hours Col Griffith and the six people abducted with him stopped at a hut where they were allowed to rest and sleep. "We were fed rice and lentils and slept on the floor on wooden boards for two nights." Col Griffith, chief of staff at the Gurkha camp in Kathmandu, said: "They told us the reason for taking us was to publicise their cause. They chose me because they could explain to me in Nepali what their points were." Having served all his working life in the Brigade of Gurkhas, Col Griffith speaks fluent Nepali. Senior Maoists spent one-and-a-half days expounding their philosophy and then asked Col Griffith to explain British army recruitment activities in the area. At midday yesterday the Maoists said they were releasing their prisoners and the group were taken to a road where the rebels had arranged for a private vehicle to drive them to the city of Pokhara, 40 miles from where they were captured. Before they drove off, the rebels gathered villagers, "made a five minute speech about what they believed, shook hands and off we went". From Pokhara the men were flown by helicopter to Kathmandu, where they arrived last night. During their captivity the rebels wore civilian clothes and did not display any arms, Col Griffith said. He added that a BBC team including Michael Palin had been filming his unit but did not witness the abduction and the rebels did not appear interested in them. Palin told the BBC that Col Griffith and his team had disappeared "shortly after it got dark. "Weâd stopped filming. The recruiting officer came to our tent looking a bit uncomfortable and said he had been approached by some people from the local area who wanted to talk to him and to some of the Gurkha officers. "After half an hour we understood they wanted to take the Gurkhas and the British officer for further discussions with what they called their high command. There was not really anything much one could do. The Maoists run a lot in these areas, so they left and we hoped they would be back that night." A British military source in Kathmandu said the army was delighted they were back safe but had no intention of amending recruiting practices which were "fair and well run". "We want to tell the Maoists that they donât scare us that easily. One and a half days of philosphy and finger-wagging? Our men can take weeks of that s*** without breaking. One and a half days of Chinese opera - now thatâs something weâd have to take seriously." Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-22 |
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