(Adds Danish embassy statement) DHAKA, July 8 (Reuters) - Suspected tribal rebels released a kidnapped Bangladeshi man working for Danish aid agency Danida on Sunday, 12 days after he was taken captive, security officials said. Troops searching forests in the southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts found Suman Sharif by a lake in the Keyakaradong hills. "Sharif is being flown to the Bandarban district headquarters of Bangladesh's army," a security official said without giving details. Sharif was released after troops captured one kidnapper following a battle on Friday. Sharif and his driver Mohammad Hanif were abducted on June 25 at a village near Thanchi, about 400 km (250 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka. The kidnappers released the driver three days later at a remote forest near Thanchi township. More than 1,000 troops, including army commandos, had been searching for the hostages. In a statement, Denmark's embassy in Dhaka said the Danish ministry of foreign affairs had condemned the kidnapping but "expressed gratitude to Bangladesh authorities for rescuing and saving the lives of the two Danida employees". A Danish government security official helped with the search in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, scene of a 25-year tribal insurgency that officially ended in 1997. Security officials say remnants of the former rebel group, Shanti Bahini, are still active and trying to regroup to pursue their campaign for regional autonomy. A British and a Danish engineer working on a road project were detained by suspected rebels for more than a month at Rangamati forest in the Hill Tracts in 2001 before being released. It is not known whether any ransom was paid.
