MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) - Medecins Sans Frontieres suspended its work in two southern Russian republics following the abduction of one of its aid workers, the international medical aid group said Wednesday.
Arjan Erkel, head of the group's mission in Dagestan — an internal Russian republic bordering the separatist Chechnya ( news - web sites) region, was abducted by three gunmen late Monday on the outskirts of Makhachkala, Dagestan's capital, the group said.
Erkel, a 32-year-old Dutch citizen, is the second employee of the group, known in English as Doctors Without Borders ( news - web sites), to be taken hostage in southern Russia. In January 2001, U.S. citizen Kenneth Gluck was held by unidentified gunmen in Chechnya for 25 days.
Erkel's kidnapping also followed the July abduction in Chechnya of Russian aid worker Nina Davidovich. The group and the United Nations ( news - web sites) suspended aid operations in Chechnya after her kidnapping.
Now the group has stopped its work in Dagestan and nearby Inghushetia, the Russian republic that has absorbed the bulk of refugees from the wars in Chechnya, the group said Wednesday.
"These consecutive kidnappings demonstrate the risk civilians and relief workers run in this conflict-ridden region," the group said in a statement released in Geneva. "Because the position of ordinary people, particularly Chechens, is so precarious and the medical needs are great, MSF will continuously review the situation to decide whether to maintain the suspension."
MSF is the acronym for the group's French name.
Authorities in the region offered Erkel bodyguards but he turned them down, a top Dagestani police official said.
"I guess the man relaxed and didn't think such a thing could happen in the region," Deputy Interior Minister Adilgerei Magomedtagirov said in televised remarks.
Since Erkel came to Russia with "a mission of good will," authorities were "obligated to find him and uncover the group that is engaged in these kidnappings," Magomedtagirov said.
Top Dagestani prosecutors took charge of the investigation Tuesday.
"We are looking at several possible motives, including the most trivial — that the goal was ransom. There could be other factors of a different, political nature," the region's first deputy prosecutor, Magomed Abdulkhalikov, told TVS television.
Erkel's driver was detained but no charges have been filed, said Abdurakhman Aliyev, an official in the prosecutor's office. Media reports said investigators were suspicious of the driver because he was not hurt during Erkel's kidnapping.
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