Chechen official held over kidnap of Briton

A senior Chechen official and a number of other men have been questioned in Georgia over the kidnapping of the British businessman Peter Shaw, according to local television reports.

Georgian authorities said seven men had been held in connection with the abduction but nobody had been charged. Mr Shaw, 57, from Cowbridge, south Wales, was abducted by gunmen near his home in Tbilisi on June 18, just hours before he was due to leave the country.

A Foreign Office spokesman could not confirm that any arrests had been made but said two people were detained last week. He added:"Two individuals were recently detained in Georgia and are being questioned, but we are not aware of any direct connection with the abduction of Peter Shaw."

Mr Shaw was an adviser with the Agro-Business Bank, part of Technical Assistance for the Community of Independent States (Tacis), a European Commission-sponsored development programme. He worked on EC-financed projects in Georgia for six years and his contract with Tacis was to end on 19 June.

The EU has warned Georgia's leaders that it may suspend aid unless the security situation improves.

Last month, John Smith, the MP for Vale of Glamorgan, flew to Georgia to try to put pressure on the government to find the businessman. The Labour MP handed photographs of Mr Shaw's new-born grandson – whom he has not seen – and his two granddaughters, along with a letter from his daughter, Lisa Evans, to the Georgian President, Eduard Shevardnadze.