Concern over Montenegro arrests

There were no visible signs of maltreatment

The UK and Canada have voiced concern over the arrest of four of their citizens in Montenegro, and rejected accusations that they had been involved in espionage.

The four men - two Britons and two Canadians - were seized on Tuesday near the border with Kosovo, and displayed on Yugoslav television on Thursday.

There are indications that the arrested foreigners... are specialist in conducting terrorist actions

Yugoslav army

They were accused of carrying explosives and plotting acts of sabotage.

The UK condemned the arrests outright, and Canada expressed concern.

Scepticism

"It is unacceptable to parade British citizens... before the world's media accused of terrorism and espionage. No evidence was produced to support these charges," said a Foreign Office statement.

Canadian Foreign Affairs department spokesman, Marie-Christine Lilkoff, said the arrests appeared to be part of an escalating campaign against foreigners by the government in Belgrade.

Charges of espionage and terrorism against foreigners had become "all too common", she said, and had to be regarded with "a very high degree of scepticism".

The television showed the men sitting at a table on which foreign money, knives, lengths of wire and an Albanian map of Kosovo were spread out.

The Britons have been named as Adrian Pragnell and John Yore, and the Canadians as Shaun Going and Liam Hall.

Dossier

The Yugoslav army said it had compiled a dossier of evidence against the four, indicating that they were specialists in buildings demolition.

The men were said to be carrying knives and wire

And it accused them of training pro-Western forces in Montenegro to commit "terrorist actions".

But the European security organisation, the OSCE, said the two Britons were on its staff, working as trainers with the Kosovo police; it said the two Canadians were aid workers.

An OSCE press officer, Laura O'Mahoney, said the men had been returning from holiday in Montenegro, and insisted that they were not armed.

Police instructors did not carry weapons, she said.

Mr Pragnell is a detective sergeant from Hampshire, and Mr Yore a constable from Cambridgeshire.

Mr Going is a construction contractor in Kosovo, and Mr Hall, his nephew, was visiting him for the summer.

Elections

This week's flurry of arrests coincides with increased tensions in Montenegro ahead of the Yugoslav presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 24 September.

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Correspondents say there are fears that the Yugoslav army, which is loyal to President Milosevic, may try to oust the Montenegrin Government, which is seeking more independence.

They say the major Western powers, anxious about the implications of renewed instability in the Balkans, have been ambivalent about what support they would offer to Montenegro in the event of an open breach with Serbia.

On Monday, the Yugoslav authorities announced that four Dutchmen had been arrested near the Yugoslav border for allegedly planning to kill or abduct President Slobodan Milosevic.

The Canadian Foreign Affairs department said it appeared the two Canadian citizens had been travelling in Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav Federation, without a visa.

Montenegro has declared an open borders policy, but visas are still officially required under Yugoslav entry requirements.