28803: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Kidnapping (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By CARA ANNA

   ALBANY, N.Y., Aug 1 (AP) -- A little thinner, a little grayer, the
70-year-old man who was kidnapped in a Haitian slum and then set free two
weeks ago returned home Tuesday night, still unsure of why he was spared.
   After friends embraced him at Albany International Airport, Charles
Adams said staff at the American embassy in Haiti told him he was the first
American they'd ever heard of being released without payment.
   "There are lots of questions, but no answers," Adams said. "(The
kidnappers) don't know who Charles Adams is. This was an accident."
   He held up a yellow T-shirt presented to him on the spot with the
writing, "I survived a coup de kidnapping" and smiled.
   But the smile faded as he talked of the results of his experience. In a
twist, the kidnapping has brought more attention to his passion --
providing clean drinking water to the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere.
   "You'd never want to confuse this with a PR stunt, for sure," he said.
"But it brought serious attention to what we're doing down there."
   And he plans to return to work in Haiti in September.
   Adams was being driven back from a humanitarian meeting July 19 when a
group of armed men ambushed his vehicle while it was stuck in traffic near
the airport in Port-au-Prince. The retired businessman was in Haiti working
on a water treatment program for Pure Water for the World, a Rutland,
Vt.-based nonprofit organization.
   Not long after Adams' driver escaped early the next morning, kidnappers
told Adams he was free to go. They gave him an armed escort through a
gang-ridden neighborhood even though he never paid the $500,000 ransom
initially set by his captors.
   "Tell them that we were nice to you," they told Adams as they escorted
him to freedom.
   Saundra Aubin, a friend and colleague who has been in contact with Adams
since his release, said Adams continued his work in Haiti before heading to
the Dominican Republic on Friday.
   Adams is among dozens of people kidnapped since President Rene Preval
took power in May, raising fears that street gangs could destabilize the
new government. The abductions come amid sharply increasing violence in
Haiti's capital.
   Tuesday night, Adams said he planned to get a haircut and a hot shower
and sleep before meeting with Pure Water for the World organizers.
   But from now on, he said, he will be more aware of his environment as he
works and travels.
   "I never had a great regard for personal security," he said.