Bangladesh army strikes at kidnappers

Kidnappers want soldiers out of the area

Bangladesh security forces are reported to have detained 33 people in raids on two villages near the suspected hideout of kidnappers holding two Danes and a Briton.

The French news agency AFP quoted an army official as saying that those detained for questioning were suspected of having links with the kidnappers, who are holding the men captive in the remote forests in the south east of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and demanding a ransom of $1.6m.

The move is said to have come after repeated attempts by government negotiators to hold direct talks with the abductors failed.

The kidnappers are believed to be hiding in remote forests

The raids appear to have been designed to put pressure on the kidnappers holding Danes Torben Mikkelsen and Nils Hulgaard and Briton Tim Selby, who began their second week in captivity on Friday.

A fourth man, Briton David Weston, was earlier freed along with the group's Bangladeshi driver.

The official BSS news agency in Bangladesh says that some 100 elite army commandoes have been mobilised and helicopters made ready for a possible assault to free the hostages.

Security officials said the kidnappers, suspected to be from an armed ethnic tribal group, have warned they will kill the hostages if the troops are not withdrawn - a demand the government has rejected.

They are also reported to have said that at least one of the two government negotiators - who include the government's Tribal Affairs Minister Kalpa Ranjan Chakma - will have to act as a human shield if agreement is reached and the hostages are freed.

"The kidnappers have now said they will take one or more government negotiators along them as a safety shield until they can move to a safer location beyond the reach of the police or soldiers," a government official said.

Peace treaty

A 1997 peace treaty between tribal rebels and the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed was designed to end a two-decade-old tribal rebellion which left an estimated 25,000 people dead.

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

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

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.