Russian Ex-Guantanamo Prisoner Reported Abducted in North Caucasus CEP20050816027035 Moscow Ekho Moskvy News Agency in Russian 0839 GMT 16 Aug 05

[No dateline, as received] Former Guantanamo prisoner Rasul Kudayev has been abducted in Nalchik [in Kabarda-Balkaria], the head of the Russian Islamic Committee, Geydar Dzhemal, has told Ekho Moskvy radio.

"People wearing balaclavas and dressed in camouflage seized Kudayev in the presence of his mother and sister and took him to an unknown destination," Dzhemal said.

"This is an example of how Latin-American-style abductions take place in this country. They are carried out without any sanction, warrant or legal grounds but at the same time are incited by the official security structures," he went on to add.

"I think that Kudayev may be subjected to torture. He is a very sick man and if he is tortured, he may not survive," Dzhemal concluded.