28661; (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Americans Kidnapped (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By STEVENSON JACOBS

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, July 20 (AP) -- Kidnappers seized two North Carolina
missionaries on their way to church in Haiti's capital, and a U.N. official
said Thursday the captors had demanded a $100,000 ransom.
   The captors initially sought $500,000 but lowered their demand during
negotiations with the FBI, said Leslie Dallemand, chief of the U.N.
peacekeeping mission's anti-kidnapping unit.
   An FBI spokeswoman in Miami, Judy Orihuela, declined to comment on the
demand, saying the agency does not discuss ransom details. The agency was
working the case with local authorities.
   Tom Barron, a minister at The Mustard Seed church, and congregation
member William Eugene Seastrum were driving to church early Sunday when
assailants stopped their car and dragged them out, Dallemand said. Both
missionaries are from High Point, N.C.
   "As far as I know, they're pretty healthy," Dallemand said. "The
kidnappers didn't speak English. They made (one missionary) call his wife
in North Carolina, and he did say he was OK."
   Kidnappings, once relatively rare in Haiti, became a regular occurrence
after a bloody revolt toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in
February 2004. Kidnappings leveled off following the February election of
President Rene Preval, but the problem has worsened since.
   U.N. officials say the kidnappings and other violence, blamed mostly on
well-armed street gangs, are aimed at destabilizing the new government that
took power in May.
   The special U.N. envoy to Haiti, Edmond Mulet, met with Preval on
Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the deteriorating security climate,
officials said.
   On Wednesday, gunmen stopped dozens of cars traveling along a main road
leading to the capital's airport and tried to seize the occupants,
Dallemand said. At least two Haitians were reported kidnapped.
   The attacks were followed by heavy shooting that killed at least six
people and injured several others in different parts of the capital, radio
Kiskeya reported, suggesting a level of coordination among the gangs not
seen in months.
   It is unclear how long Barron and Seastrum have been in Haiti. Dallemand
said the two were staying at a hotel in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of
Delmas, where many kidnappings occur.
   Dallemand said the FBI is working with U.N. and Haitian authorities to
free the men, the latest foreign missionaries to be kidnapped.
   Last month, Canadian missionary Ed Hughes was abducted from a rural town
north of Port-au-Prince where he runs an orphanage. The 72-year-old was
freed a week later after an undisclosed ransom was paid.
   At least 29 people have been reported kidnapped in Haiti so far in July,
and about a third of them are U.S. citizens, Dallemand said.
   Last year, 40 Americans were kidnapped in Haiti and three more were
killed in attempted abductions, according to the U.S. State Department.