Myanmar troops abduct Bangladesh fishermen - officials

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, Nov 13 (Reuters) Fourteen Bangladeshi fishermen aboard two fishing boats were abducted in the Bay of Bengal by Myanmar border security forces, officials said today.

''The fishermen were captured late yesterday while they were fishing in Bangladesh waters ... near the Saint Martin's Island,'' an official of the Bangladesh Rifles border force said.

Saint Martin's is an offshore Bangladesh island, 550 km southeast of the capital, Dhaka.

Bangladesh and Myanmar share a 320-km border and generally have good neighbourly relations, but sometimes quarrel over allegations that fishermen stray out of their territorial waters.

REUTERS SKB RAI1502