British cavers remain held in Mexico

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, March 28, 2004

British cavers remain held in Mexico

Mexican authorities on Saturday continue to hold a team of British cavers, demanding them to give further explanation on what they were doing in 11 days spent underground.

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Mexican authorities on Saturday continue to hold a team of British cavers, demanding them to give further explanation on what they were doing in 11 days spent underground.

British and Mexican divers helped six cave explorers, four of them members of the military, out of the Alpazat caverns, 175 km northeast of Mexico City on Thursday, but questions about what they were doing underground persisted.

The cavers, who at first rejected aid by Mexican authorities, had been trapped underground for more than a week after water flooded the cave entrance.

After receiving medical checks at a military hospital, the cavers were brought in minibuses to Mexico City for questioning on Friday.

They were then whisked to the federal Attorney General's office on Saturday, where they remained into the evening.

Under Mexican law, immigration authorities often turn suspects over to other agencies for questioning before they are deported or set free.

Officials of the Attorney General's office said the group's equipment, backpacks and computers should also go through examination.

Mexican President Vicente Fox said Friday that he was not satisfied with Britain's explanation on what the team had been doing in Mexico.

"We have requested an explanation from England and there is an answer but it is honestly not satisfactory," Fox said at a press conference in Nicaragua, where he was on a visit.

Mexico rendered two protest letters to the British government, accusing the caving team of being serving armed forces members and entering the country on tourist visas. Mexican law requires special visa for scientific explorations and bans foreign military exercises.

The British embassy had originally described the group as being on a scientific mission and later said they were mapping the cave complex.

Source: Xinhua

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