Grozny - Four men, three of them British, were snatched in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya after the house they were in was stormed by a gang of 20 armed men following a gun battle, it emerged yesterday.
Reports from Moscow suggested the building was just yards from the headquarters of the regional government's department to fight kidnapping. It was reported that officers heard the shootings, but did not react because gunfire is so frequent in the capital, Grozny.
The men, identified as engineers Mr Stanley Shaw (a New Zealander), Mr Peter Kennedy, Mr Darren Hickey and Mr Rudolf Petschi, were believed to be installing a cellular phone system for a local telecommunications company. The incident came two weeks after charity workers, Mr Jon James and Ms Camilla Carr, were released by Chechen rebels following 14 months in captivity.
