International
Haiti Gang Demands $17m For Abducted Missionaries
- …the abducted group is made up of five men, seven women and five children.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that a gang that abducted a group of 17 American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti has asked for $1 million each for their release, a top Haitian official has disclosed.
The 16 American citizens and one Canadian were kidnapped by the powerful “400 Mawozo” gang on Saturday after visiting an orphanage in Croix-des-Bouquets, a northeast suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince, over the weekend.
Their abduction is part of a wave of indiscriminate kidnappings that has become more brazen as the country suffers from political instability, civil unrest, lack of quality healthcare and severe poverty.
Haitian Justice Minister Liszt Quitel confirmed to CNN that the kidnappers have demanded a total of $17 million for the group’s release and that they were being held in a location outside the suburb.
Read also: US Christian Missionaries & Family Reportedly Kidnapped In Haiti
The missionaries are affiliated with the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, which says the abducted group is made up of five men, seven women and five children.
Quitel said the five children abducted include an 8-month-old baby and children ages 3, 6, 14 and 15 years old.
The kidnappers first called Christian Aid Ministries’ staff in Haiti at 4:53 p.m. on Saturday, stating their ransom demands at the time of the call, Quitel added. Several calls between the kidnappers and the missionary group have taken place since then, he said.
Quitel said that both Haitian police negotiators and the FBI are advising the missionary group on how to proceed and that negotiations are ongoing. FBI agents are on the ground in Haiti assisting with the investigation but are not leading the negotiations, nor have they spoken directly with the kidnappers, he said.
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