Four Trekkers Abducted in Nepal

Communist rebels in Nepal have abducted four Polish men who were trekking in the Mount Everest region, their colleagues said today.

The trekkers called colleagues in the Nepalese capital from the rebels' satellite phone to say they were being held captive but had no immediate word on any demands made by the captors, said Mukunda Pathik of the Katmandu-based Nepal Esperanto Association. They called Friday and have not been heard from since, he said.

Two of the trekkers were members of the association, a group that promotes the constructed language Esperanto, and they were joined by two of their Polish friends when they departed Katmandu on March 18 for a trek in the Everest area.

Nepal's Maoist rebels have not yet taken responsibility for the abduction. They commonly take money from tourists, calling it a tax, but have rarely attacked or harmed them and have made it clear it is not their policy to damage the tourism industry - a major foreign currency earner for Nepal.

The trekkers drove until Jiri, the last main town before the Everest, and began on foot toward Lukla, the gateway to the Everest area.

The trek between Jiri and Lukla takes about a week and runs through an area where rebels are active. Trekkers rarely use this route.

Most trekkers visiting the Everest region fly to the small airstrip at Lukla and then walk to the base camp through a section heavily guarded by the military.

The rebels have intensified their decade-old violent campaign to topple the government and impose communist rule since withdrawing from a ceasefire earlier this year.

The rebels have been fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist state in a conflict that has claimed nearly 13,000 lives.

The British Foreign Office advises trekkers to stay in a group with an experienced guide and, and if planning to travel to "out-of-the-way areas" to contact the British Embassy in Kathmandu on arrival for updated advice on the security situation.