(10 Jul 1997) Eng/Russ/Nat
A British medical agency has pulled its staff out the breakaway Russian province of Chechnya - a week after two aid workers from another group were kidnapped.
Medical Emergency Relief International has warned its six workers that they should stay away until further notice.
The order was made as fears mounted for Jon James and his girlfriend Camilla Carr who were abducted last Wednesday from the house where they were staying in the Chechen capital Grozny.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the kidnap and no ransom demands been made.
It was from this house in the bombed-out Chechen capital Grozny that two British aid workers were abducted a week ago.
Despite the two armed bodyguards guarding the house, six gunmen broke into the house that doubled as an office and took Jon James and Camilla Carr away.
The couple were running a psychological rehabilitation programme for children traumatized by the Russian/Chechen war.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"The kidnappers knew that there were only two bodyguards left and it seems they arranged the whole episode beforehand. They came in through this hole in the fence and then walked through the garden."
SUPER CAPTION: Magomed Kosumov, Carrs' bodyguard
The two were snatched from this very bedroom while their bodyguards were incapacitated by the raiders.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"There were 5 or 6 kidnappers, 4 of them came into the house, and one stood in the door and the last one was keeping watch outside.
SUPER CAPTION: Magomed Kosumov, Carrs' bodyguard
Camilla and James, both in their 40s, join a string of kidnapped foreigners.
Most Western embassies advise their citizens not to travel to or work in the troubled region, citing the large number of abductions.
And with five Russian correspondents in captivity there, many journalists are reluctant to go.
One week since their abduction nothing has been heard of Camilla and Jon. No one has yet taken responsibility for the kidnapping and no ransom been demanded.
Anya Denisovskaya, psychologist at the Centre for Peace, saw Camilla leaving on the fateful night.
SOUNDBITE: (English and Russian)
"I didn't see Jon but I see Camilla coming out of the house with a bag and she, her face was how do you say (now in Russian) surprised, very surprised and shocked, and then she waved goodbye to me"
SUPER CAPTION: Anya Denisovskaya, psychologist for Centre for Peace
A representative from the Quaker Church in Moscow which set up the centre has been sent to Grozny to search for the couple.
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