British man kidnapped by gunmen in Georgia

A British businessman has been kidnapped by gunmen in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Peter Shaw, a banking expert, 57, was abducted near his home in Tbilisi on Tuesday evening – less than 24 hours before his contract for work in the country was to have ended.

He was seized after a car full of men dressed in fake police uniforms approached him and ordered him to follow them in his car. Mr Shaw resisted and a car containing genuine police pulled up to investigate, Koba Narchemashvili, Georgia's Interior Minister, said. But gunmen fled with Mr Shaw after a second car carrying men in camouflage clothing pulled up and opened fire on the police.

Mr Shaw was an adviser at the Georgian office of Agrobusinessbank, part of a European Commission-sponsored development program.

The kidnappers may be holding him for ransom, Mr Narchemashvili said. The Foreign Office has warned of an increase in the number of attacks on foreigners, particularly in urban areas of Tbilisi.

Mr Shaw, who is from Wales, has been in Georgia since 1996. He is divorced and his former wife still lived in Britain, along with their three children. His ex-wife, Mair Shaw, said: "I have spoken to him often since he began working in Georgia and he has mentioned the dangers of kidnapping several times. He has known other people who have been kidnapped so he was aware of the risk."