A group of Guatemalan farmers Friday kidnapped four tourists from Belgium to demand the release of their leader, reports from Guatemala City said.

The tourists are two women and two men, Jose Roberto Goubaud, a spokesman of Guatemala's Tourism Institute, told Xinhua in a telephone interview, without giving details on their identities.

They were kidnapped in Rio Dulce, a tourist resort located some 250 km northwest of Guatemala's capital, Goubaud said.

He added that the kidnappers belong to the same group that took 29 policemen hostage last month in the Caribbean coastal town of Livingston.

Cristian Zost, director of tour operator Guayacan Tours with which the tourists were traveling, told local media that the hostages "are all right, they have eaten and they were not hurt."

The farmers demand the release of their leader, Ramiro Choc, who was arrested on Feb. 14 on charges of illegal land invasion, robbery and alleged aggressions against state officials.

He was also accused of inciting locals to seize land and take over protected nature reserves.

Guatemalan officials have sent a commission to negotiate with the farmers and the police were ordered not to do anything that would endanger the tourists.