Briton Kidnapped by Kurd Rebels in Turkey is Freed
A British tourist who was kidnapped by Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey at the weekend was freed on Monday, officials in London and Turkey said.
The 35-year-old man was described as being in good health and is to be taken to the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir for brief questioning about his ordeal, a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity.
The Briton was snatched on Saturday by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who had stopped the bus he was travelling in between the Black Sea city of Trabzon and Diyarbakir.
In London, a spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed his release, but declined to disclose his identity.
"He has since been in touch with his family in the UK. Embassy officials are speaking to him and are offering consular assistance," the spokesman told AFP.
"The British ambassador in Ankara, David Reddaway, would like to express his gratitude to the Turkish authorities in securing his release."
No details were immediately available about the circumstances of the release.
Saturday's abduction came amid an upsurge in activity by the rebel group, which last month kidnapped 10 people from a village in the Kurd-dominated southeast. The motive was unknown.
In a separate incident on Monday, two Turkish soldiers were killed in the Diyarbakir region when a landmine laid by rebels exploded, a local security source said.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community, took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.
Source: Agence France Presse
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