GROZNY, Russia (AP) -- Chechen kidnappers beheaded four foreign hostages because they feared capture and wanted to prevent their victims from serving as witnesses, an official in the breakaway territory said Wednesday.
One suspected kidnapper was arrested Sunday, and his detention triggered panic among the rest, Chechnya's Prosecutor General Mansur Tagirov told the ITAR-Tass news agency.The kidnappers then killed the three Britons and the New Zealander, whose severed heads were found Tuesday along a highway in Chechnya.
Hundreds of Chechen law enforcement officers were searching for the bodies Wednesday, officials said.
Tagirov said authorities believe they know the names of those involved in the kidnappings, but he did not release additional details.
The victims -- Peter Kennedy, Darren Hickey and Rudolf Petschi of Britain and Stanley Shaw of New Zealand -- were identified by their former bodyguard. They were abducted Oct. 3 by unidentified gunmen in Grozny, Chechnya's capital.
The men were working to restore phone services in Chechnya, which was devastated during the 1994-96 war with Russia.