Climbers kidnapped on site of Noah's Ark

Kurdish rebels have kidnapped three German climbers on Mount Ararat – the site where Noah’s Ark is said to have landed after the great flood – according to the governor of an eastern Turkish province today.

Governor Mehmet Cetin said the climbers were among a 13-member German team who had been allowed to climb Ararat.

Mr Cetin said the rebels kidnapped the three late yesterday.

The rebels abducted and released several foreign tourists and climbers in the country’s south-east in the early 1990s.

The rebels have been fighting for autonomy in the region since 1984.