Bangladeshi abductors free Danida employee

Dhaka, July 8: Suspected tribal rebels released today a kidnapped Bangladeshi man working for Danish aid agency Danida after 12 days of being held captive, security officials said.

Troops scouring forests in the southeastern Chittagong Hills Tracts found Suman Sharif beside a lake in the Keyakaradong hill range.

''Sharif is being flown to the Bandarban district headquarters of Bangladesh's army,'' a security official said without giving details.

Sharif was released after troops captured one kidnapper following a battle on Friday.

Sharif and his driver Mohammad Hanif were abducted on June 25 at a village near Thanchi, about 400 km southeast of the capital Dhaka.

The kidnappers released the driver three days later at a remote forest near Thanchi township. More than 1,000 troops, including army commandos, had been searching for both hostages.

A Danish government security official also helped authorities in the search in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, scene of a 25-year tribal insurgency that officially ended in 1997.

Security officials say remnants of the former rebel group, Shanti Bahini, are still active and trying to regroup to pursue their campaign for regional autonomy.

A British and a Danish engineer working on a road project were detained by suspected rebels for more than a month at Rangamati forest in the Hill Tracts in 2001 before being released. It was not known whether ransom was paid for their release.

Reuters>