Danish aid agency staff kidnapped in Bangladesh

DHAKA, June 26 (Reuters) Two Bangladeshi staff working for a Danish development agency have been kidnapped by suspected tribal rebels in Bangladesh, officials said today.

Suman Sharif, an employee of the Danish International Development Agency (Danida), and his driver Mohammad Hanif were captured yesterday at a village near Thanchi, some 400 km southeast of the capital Dhaka.

''They had no security escort, which visitors need in remote areas in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT),'' senior government administrative officer Mokhlesur Rahman told Reuters.

He said the motive behind the kidnap was unknown and that police were scouring the hills to find the men.

Tribal insurgents seeking autonomy for the 14,000 sq km CHT fought a guerrilla war against Bangladeshi authorities from 1973 until 1997, when a peace deal was struck.

The majority of the 3,000-strong Shanti Bahini rebels surrendered their arms, but a dissident group opposed to the deal melted into the jungle and turned to criminal activities including kidnappings for ransom.

A British and a Danish engineer working on a road project were detained by suspected tribal rebels for more than a month at Rangamati forest in the CHT in 2001 before being released.

It is not known whether a ransom was paid.

More than 8,500 people were killed and some 70,000 were displaced during the insurgency.

REUTERS GL RN2330