UK officer safe in Nepal

A British army officer and a team of six Nepalese nationals who went missing after encountering Maoist rebels have returned to safety.

A search for the missing men had been launched after they were taken away by suspected Maoists on Sunday night.

The group was part of a mission recruiting Gurkhas in the remote Baglung region, west of the capital, Kathmandu.

The incident was witnessed by a BBC film crew working with television star Michael Palin, who said the incident made them all feel very uncomfortable.

When somebody is removed and taken into the forest it's a rather ominous feeling Michael Palin Who are the Gurkhas?

The seven missing men returned to the safety of the town of Pokhara on Tuesday. The British officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Griffith, was later flown by helicopter to Kathamandu for debriefing.

Earlier in the day, the UK embassy in Kathmandu said contact had been re-established with the team, all of whom were safe and well.

No filming

Palin's crew was in the region filming a documentary on the Himalayas.

Crew members were with the British army officer when the Maoists arrived.

The British Army has been recruiting Nepalese men for nearly 200 years

A BBC spokesman said: "They were told to stop filming, which they did immediately... they didn't perceive themselves to be in any danger at the time."

The Maoist rebels asked them to go with them to meet a rebel commander several hours away.

Mr Palin told BBC News 24: "We'd been assured that nothing would happen and that even if the Maoists did approach us that we were highly unlikely to be harmed, but they are around and operating.

"It was getting on into the evening and there was a certain feeling that there may be complications and when somebody is removed and taken into the forest it's a rather ominous feeling.

"I don't think any of us were very comfortable that night and were very glad to leave the next morning.

"But they have disrupted the recruitment process before, this wasn't the first instance and I'm sure it won't be the last."

The Nepalese authorities described the incident as a kidnapping.

Baglung District administrator Prem Narayan Sharma said the Maoists had released their captives after rescuers reached the area.

The BBC's Daniel Lak in Kathmandu said the rebels had not kidnapped or harmed foreigners in more than seven years of civil war, although money has been taken from trekking groups in remote areas.

He said the British were hoping the Maoists may have just wanted to meet the Gurkha recruiters to discuss their concerns about the process.

The rebels are opposed to the recruitment of Gurkhas by Britain and in recent weeks have been involved in several violent attacks aimed at disrupting the process.

Rebel attacks

Bomb attacks, ambushes and kidnappings have brought violence in Nepal to a peak recently, after the rebels pulled out of a seven-month old ceasefire in late August.

More than 8,000 people have died since Maoist guerrillas began an armed struggle to rid Nepal of its monarchy in 1996.

Britain provides non-lethal military aid and training to the Nepalese army as well as much of Nepal's foreign assistance.

The British Army has been recruiting Nepalese men to fight in its Gurkha brigade for nearly 200 years.

Competition is fierce to join the brigade, which has a reputation for fierce bravery, endurance and loyalty.