Freed hostage's family celebrates his release

The family of kidnapped British hostage Tim Selby are celebrating after the engineer and his two Danish colleagues were freed by Bangladeshi rebels.

Mr Selby's brother Jon and his wife Joanne as well as his parents Margaret and Alf cracked open the champagne after hearing the news at 6am.

Mr Selby, 28, from Oldham, Torben Mikkelsen, 48, and Nils Hulgaard, 64, were taken to an army camp at Rangamati in the south east of the country before being flown by helicopter to Dhaka. The gunmen had dropped their demands and accepted a government amnesty.

Jon Selby said: "We've cracked open a bottle. It's fantastic news. We were naturally very cautious when we heard unconfirmed reports at about 3am but now it's been confirmed we can't believe it.

"Our main concern now is his health - his mental health as well as physical but we've heard reports he was seen walking and smiling, and that sounds like a good sign."

Reports said a security patrol found the three shortly after midnight GMT about three miles from an army camp at Kashkhali.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are happy to confirm that Tim Selby and the two Danish hostages Torben Mikkelsen and Nils Hulgaard have been released. UK and Danish representatives are now with them in Dhaka.

"Tim, Torben and Nils are in good health and are looking forward to being united with their families and friends."

The trio were seized at gunpoint by suspected tribal rebels at Guniapara in the southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts on February 16 as they worked on a road project for Danish company Kampsax. The kidnappers had been demanding a ransom of £1.1m.

The kidnappers are believed to be militants opposed to a peace treaty between the Government and the Shanti Bahini, guerillas who fought a 25-year war for independence for the region, bordering India and Burma.