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The 1998 abduction of foreign engineers took place when four United Kingdom-based specialists were seized by unidentified Chechen gunmen in Grozny, the capital of the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). After more than two months in captivity, all four men were found brutally murdered, reportedly following a failed rescue bid by the Chechen separatist security forces. As of 2009, no one has been tried in this case. The victims were three Britons: Peter Kennedy (46) of Hereford, Darren Hickey (27) from Surrey, Rudi Petschi (42) of Devon, and New Zealand-born Stan Shaw (58). The four men had been working for Granger Telecom, a British telecommunication company which had won a £183m contract for the separatist government-run company Chechentelekom to install telephone lines, satellite links and a mobile phone system throughout the war-ravaged republic; the work was suspended after the four men were kidnapped.〔(Hostages alive, says Chechen president ), BBC News, October 13, 1998〕 The slayings were a major blow to the efforts of the breakaway republic to gain international recognition of its declaration of independence. Kidnappings had become common in Chechnya since the end of the First Chechen War in 1996, as the ruined region's fledging separatist government failed to maintain law and order, but the hostages at the time were rarely killed, and no other kidnapped foreigners were murdered.〔 == Kidnapping == On the night of October 3, 1998, a well-armed group of up to 20 Chechen-speaking men captured four foreign workers from their home in Grozny, located in the vicinity of the headquarters of the Chechen security team specifically tasked with fighting the plague of kidnappings in the republic. The attackers fought a brief gun battle with one of the victims' lightly armed local bodyguards (according to Chechen officials the other five bodyguards did not open fire) and one member of the gang was reportedly wounded.〔(Kidnapped workers 'ignored advice' ), BBC News, October 5, 1998〕〔(Bodyguards 'abandoned engineers' ), ''The Independent'', 6 October 1998〕 Nevertheless, the anti-kidnapping unit's officers did not react to the shooting, allegedly because they were not aware of the presence of the foreigners at the house, and the sound of gunfire was frequent in Grozny at night.〔(Chechens kidnap three Britons ), ''The Daily Telegraph'', 5 October 1998〕〔(Chechen mob snatches UK and NZ workers in gun battle ), ''The Examiner'', 5 October 1998 〕 All the law enforcement agencies of the ChRI got involved in the search for the victims. More than 60 other hostages were released as Chechen officials launched raids on the homes of suspected kidnappers, but the missing engineers were not found.〔 During the crackdown, several suspects in the abduction were arrested, but all were later released for lack of evidence.〔 On October 8, a spokesman for Chechnya's Security Ministry said the abductees were alive and well, but the kidnappers had not set demands or conditions for their release.〔(Chechnya hostages 'alive and well' ), BBC News, October 8, 1998〕 After nearly two months, at the end of November, the kidnappers contacted Granger, promising that the hostages were alive and well and demanding a ransom of 10 million dollars. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office had already announced that it was Her Majesty's Government's policy not to pay ransoms, but Granger agreed to find the money.〔(My brother's brutal death ), ''Evening Standard'', 05.11.03〕 According to the 2005 article in ''Kommersant'', the management of state-owned telecommunications company Chechentelekom determined that the engineers were in the hands of the rogue Chechen commander and reputed organized crime figure Arbi Barayev; during the war with Russia, Barayev abducted a group of 29 Russian engineers near Grozny and later exchanged them for a large sum of money. According to the rumors, the company even took one of Barayev's deputies hostage and proposed exchanging him for the foreigners, yet Barayev declined and continued in demanding $10m for their release.〔(Mesker-Yurt's Executioner ), ''Kommersant'', Apr. 07, 2005〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1998 abduction of foreign engineers in Chechnya」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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