UK protests at Montenegro arrests

There were no visible signs of maltreatment

British and Canadian diplomats in Belgrade are trying to gain access to four of their nationals being held by the Yugoslav authorities on suspicion of spying.

A senior British diplomat is to visit the Yugoslav foreign ministry to protest that the UK was not informed about the arrest of the two Britons, and to request access to them and information about where they are being held.

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

Yugoslav army

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

The BBC Belgrade correspondent says a senior Canadian diplomat is believed to be on his way to the town of Andrijevica in Montenegro, where diplomats suspect that the men are being held.

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," a Foreign Office statement said earlier.

The men were arrested close to the Kosovo border

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 Prangnell 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 Prangnell 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.