British man kidnapped in Georgia

Police in the former Soviet republic of Georgia were today investigating the kidnapping of a British businessman in the capital.

Peter Shaw, a banking expert, was abducted by armed gunmen near his home in Tbilisi late last night, said Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili.

A car full of men dressed in fake police uniforms approached Shaw and demanded he follow them in his car, Narchemashvili said.

Shaw resisted, and a real police car pulled up to investigate, the minister said.

Then a second car full of camouflaged men pulled up and opened fire on the police with automatic weapons. Shaw was taken away by the armed men.

Shaw was advising the Georgia office of Agrobusiness Bank, under the auspices of a European-sponsored development programme, said a spokeswoman for the British embassy in Tbilisi.