Four Americans arrested in Laos

Four US nationals have been arrested in Laos for "liaising illegally" with ethnic Hmong people, a foreign ministry official said on Monday.

The four were detained on Saturday and are now being questioned in Vientiane, said spokesman Yong Chanhthalansy.

They were in Laos to try and ensure the safety of relatives of Hmong rebels surrendering to the Lao authorities.

On Saturday, 170 women, children and old men surrendered after living in the jungle since the Vietnam War.

According to the Nation newspaper in Thailand, the four detainees were Sia Cher Vang and Nhia Vang Yang - two Hmong Americans - as well as Californians Ed and Georgie Szendrey.

All four are members of the Fact Finding Commission (FFC), a US-based organisation which has kept in touch with Hmong rebels still hiding in Laos.

The Laos government spokesman told Reuters news agency that the four "were making trouble with the local authorities and local people, who reported that they were very unhappy".

"So they have been placed under arrest and are now being interrogated in Vientiane," he said.

CIA army

Ed Szendrey was in Laos to meet the first group of relatives to surrender. He said they were received warmly by local villagers in Xiang Khuang province.

"The surrender went smoothly and food was provided by villagers at the request of the local government authorities," Mr Szendrey was quoted by the FFC as saying, before his arrest on Saturday.

But Mr Yong disputed his account, saying the Americans' presence was interfering with a government programme to relocate jungle communities to improve their living conditions.

Some members of the Hmong ethnic minority were recruited by the CIA to fight on behalf of the pro-American side during the Vietnam War.

But when the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the country in 1975, the Hmong found themselves virtually abandoned by Washington.

Many have since adapted to life in Communist Laos, while others have fled to Thailand and the US.

But thousands of stayed in the Lao jungle, where they have faced growing hardship and continuing clashes with troops.