Hostage woes

PHNOM PENH - Three Westerners taken hostage by the Khmer Rouge described their plight as 'difficult'. In an edited tape recording, the three men confirmed reports that they had been put to work building a dike in a rice field. Mark Davis Slater, 28, from Corby in Northamptonshire, the Australian David John Wilson, 29, and Frenchman Jean Michel Braquet, 28, were kidnapped after their train was attacked by the guerrillas in the southern province of Kampot on 26 July.

'The train came under attack and we were taken hostage by the Khmer Rouge,' Mr Slater said in his message. 'We have now been held six days, conditions are difficult for us.' AP