Bangladesh kidnappers toughen stance

Kidnappers want soldiers out of the area before they talk

Kidnappers holding a Briton and two Danes in Bangladesh are reported to have added a further condition for the men's release.

At least one of the two government negotiators will have to act as a human shield to protect the kidnappers from the security forces, Reuters news agency reports.

The kidnappers - believed to be tribal rebels - are demanding a ransom of more than $1.4m (£1m).

The negotiators are making another attempt on Friday to hold their first face-to-face talks with the kidnappers.

Safe location

"In addition to their old demands, the kidnappers now said they will take one or more government negotiators along them as a safety shield until they could move to a safer location beyond the reach of the police or soldiers," an official in the remote Chittagong Hill Tracts region said.

Hostage confirms he's well

The kidnappers told intermediaries that they wanted the human shield for protection once the hostages had been released.

They are still said to be insisting that a military cordon around their forest base should be withdrawn.

The Europeans were kidnapped near Rangamati hill town one week ago while returning from inspecting a road project funded by the Danish Government.

Briton Tim Selby, 28, an engineer from Manchester, had been in the country for a fortnight.

The Danes, believed to be Torben Mikkelsen and Nils Hulgaard, worked for Kampsax, a Copenhagen-based company.

Another British man, David Weston, and the group's Bangladeshi driver were also abducted but later released unharmed in order to pass on the ransom demand.

Messages from the hostages earlier in the week had said they were in good health. There is no up-to-date information on their condition.

Kidnappers 'angered'

The negotiators, who include the government's Tribal Affairs Minister Kalpa Ranjan Chakma, were frustrated for a second time on Thursday when the kidnappers failed to meet for pre-arranged talks.

Negotiators hope to return to the remote forests on Friday

According to eyewitnesses, more than 100 soldiers and three helicopters mobilised as the government negotiators left for the meeting.

This, eyewitnesses say, angered the kidnappers.

Some local tribal leaders in the remote Chittagong Hill Tracts region are also blaming a lack of co-ordination between government agencies handling the crisis

The kidnappers did not turn up for a meeting on Wednesday, saying that they would not meet inside an area cordoned off by the army.

Each round trip to the meeting point takes anything up to eight hours by motorbike. The area is rugged, and communication extremely difficult.

Local officials suspect a small group of former Shanti Bahini rebels, who opposed a 1997 peace deal with the government, may be responsible for the abductions.