Bangladesh authorities send in kidnappers' relative

The authorities in Bangladesh have sent a relative of one of the kidnappers of three Western road engineers on a mission to establish direct contacts with the gang.

For three days running, the kidnappers have failed to show up for talks with tribal mediators sent in by the government.

The last note sent out by the hostages was also three days ago.

The security forces detained more than thirty villagers on Thursday, one of whom has now been sent into the jungle in the remote south-eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts with a message to the kidnappers.

The gang demanded a ransom of more than one-and-a-half million dollars when it first abducted the two Danes and a Briton more than a week ago. The British and Danish governments have urged that there should be no military action which could jeopardise the hostages' safety.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service