A British oil worker has been kidnapped in the Aceh province of Indonesia, according to reports Wednesday. BBC News reported a spokesman for police in the Aceh province as saying the man, named as 61-year old Malcolm Primrose, had been traveling back from a mine site when a group of armed men ambushed his car.
The British embassy in Jakarta was reported as being in touch with the local authorities and the man's family. But so far there have been no ransom demands, the BBC added.
Primrose's LinkedIn profile lists him as a senior drilling supervisor working for Indonesian oil firm Medco Exploration and Production in the Medan area of North Sumatra. Companies he has worked for in the past include: GeoEnpro, PetroChina, Lundin Russia and Lundin Indonesia, according to the profile.
The Aceh area has been generally regarded as safe for foreigners to work in since the bloody conflict between the Free Aceh Movement and the government of Indonesia ended in 2005. However, kidnappings have occurred since then. In 2008 several workers from a Chinese company were kidnapped by gunmen in the Gayo district of Aceh; they were all released days later.