Nepali troops surround rebels

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Nepali security forces have tracked down dozens of policemen kidnapped by Maoist rebels and are trying to rescue them without bloodshed, Home (Interior) Secretary Srikanta Regmi has told Reuters.

Nepal's Home (Interior) Ministry said in a statement that the soldiers had encircled the place where rebels had kept 69 kidnapped policemen. The government earlier said 70 policemen had been kidnapped, while the rebels said they held 71 captives.

"The security agencies continued to surround the area today (Sunday) to free the policemen and recover the arms and ammunition," the statement said.

It said the army was "highly restrained" and there were no casualties.

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Maoist party chief Prachanda gave a different version of the situation in his statement.

"The army soldiers (on the search mission) were surrounded by the guerrillas and (the soldiers) remained under their protection for two days," Prachanda said in a statement.

He said the soldiers were allowed to go after they agreed not to fight the rebels but he gave no details.

Army back up

Nepal called in the army to rescue the policemen and recover arms and ammunition seized by the rebels during a raid on a police post in Rolpa district in west Nepal last week.

"They have been spotted. We are trying to achieve our mission without any casualties or bloodshed," Regmi said.

Regmi said the rebels had holed up with the kidnapped policemen at Holery village and were using them as a "human shield." The rescuers were only about 700 metres (yards) from the captives and had surrounded the village, he said.

The government called the army into action against the rebels for the first time on Friday.

Rebel offer rejected

Until now, poorly equipped and ill-trained police had been taking on the guerrillas, who often launch hit-and-run attacks on police posts at night.

Regmi rejected a rebel offer late on Friday to free 80 captives in exchange for the release of some jailed Maoists.

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The Nepali daily Himalaya Times said the rebels were asking for safe passage, but the military was insisting that the guerrillas must surrender with their arms.

Officials would not comment on a newspaper report that said the army had been put on "red-alert" across the country because of the rebel violence.

Prachanda, who made the swap offer, did not say if the 80 included the abducted policemen.

"The government is not in a position to exchange their men with police personnel under any condition," Regmi said.

Royal family massacre

The Nepali daily Kantipur said the rebels had freed as a "goodwill gesture" 22 other policemen captured in April, but officials said no released police had made contact with the government yet.

Human rights activists said they planned to visit the area of the standoff to seek the peaceful release of the policemen.

Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) rebels have stepped up their violent campaign to set up a communist republic in the world's only Hindu kingdom since last month's massacre of almost the entire royal family by Crown Prince Dipendra, who then shot himself.

About 1,750 people have been killed in the Maoist conflict since it started in February 1996.

Reuters contributed to this report.