Mexicans Angry At Trapped Brits

Rescuers descended into a central Mexican cave Thursday to check the well being of five British military divers and their civilian guide who were trapped below ground two weeks ago by rising water.

The Mexican president, meanwhile, said he was sending a letter of protest to the British government seeking an explanation of why the divers did not seek government permission before entering the cave.

"Why were those people there?" President Vicente Fox asked as he announced the protest during a trip to Honduras.

Two British divers and members of a Mexican army diving team made up the rescue team headed into the cave to navigate 330 feet of flooded tunnels to reach a dry area where the trapped explorers have taken refuge.

Expedition leader Stephen Whitlock called the expedition a military trip "to support adventurous training."

But he added "you've got to disassociate the fact that we're here as a military" from the main purpose of the trip, which he said was to map the cavern system.

Adventure training is commonly used by the British military to build teamwork and physical preparedness.

The cave divers' original plans for a three-day underground tour has stretched into a second week after heavy rain caused water levels to rise and block the entrance to the Alpazat caverns, near Cuetzalan, a mountain town in the central state of Puebla, 110 miles northeast of Mexico City.

Stocked with provisions that would last them through this weekend and equipped with radios that work below ground, the explorers earlier turned down help from Mexican rescuers.

By Thursday, however, the rescue effort had begun with scores of heavily armed state policemen guarding the cave site to keep back curious onlookers.

Local officials and reporters said they were offended that the trapped cavers insisted on British rescuers and voice deep suspicions about the reasons for Britain's Combined Services — which includes the army, navy and air force — to be exploring caves in Mexico.

British ambassador Vijay Rangarajan said the two British rescuers would work with the Mexican military in the attempt to reach the trapped divers.

As a safety precaution, half of the cave-diving team remained above ground and were not in danger when heavy rains first triggered floods and blocked the cave's entrance March 17.

Whitlock said he still hoped flood waters would recede and the stranded divers would be able get out unassisted.

Continuing intermittent rain kept water inside the cave from draining away, but Whitlock said the rescuers might only take supplies to their trapped comrades, who would then leave once the water level dropped.

The diplomatic dispute arose because the Britons entered the country on tourist visas.

"We have asked the British government for more precise information about the excursion," Interior Minister Santiago Creel said. "Information that will let us know if their activities were related to exploration or to another kind of activity, something scientific or something else."

Rangarajan said Mexico's concerns that the cavers were doing anything other than exploring was "pure fantasy."

"I think we just need to talk to the Mexican government and find out what their problems are," he said.