26761: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti kidnappers release US missionary (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Kidnappers on Friday released
a U.S. missionary one day after seizing him at gunpoint outside Haiti's
capital and demanding a $300,000 ransom, police said.
     Philip Snyder, 48, was freed along with a boy after a small sum of
money was paid, Michael Lucius, head of Haiti's judicial police, told
Reuters. He did not provide any detail about the child or Snyder's
condition.
     "Mr. Snyder was released together with a young boy. That's what I can
say for now," Lucius said by telephone.
     It was unclear who had paid the ransom for Snyder, a representative of
Glow Ministries International based in Zeeland, Michigan. Lucius said it
was less than the $300,000 sought.
     The Caribbean nation has been afflicted by a rash of kidnappings in
recent month despite the deployment of more than 7,000 Brazilian-led U.N.
peacekeepers following the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide in February 2004.
     Hundreds of people have been killed in political violence as the
country lurches toward its first elections since Aristide fled into exile
in Africa, facing an armed revolt and U.S. and French pressure to quit.
     Originally set for November, the first round of the presidential
election is now scheduled for Jan. 8.
     Snyder was kidnapped on the same day gunmen commandeered a school bus
and abducted 11 schoolchildren. The children were taken to a hide-out
believed to be in the sprawling Port-au-Prince slum of Cite Soleil,
regarded as a stronghold of support for Aristide.
     They were released unharmed later in the day after a ransom of some
$4,000 was paid. Police said they believed one of the children held U.S.
citizenship but were unable to confirm the information.