28884: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Italy-Kidnapping (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 11 (AP) -- An Italian woman kidnapped in Haiti by
gunmen who killed her husband was freed after three days in captivity, her
family and U.N. officials said Friday.
   The U.N. gave no details on how Gigliola Martino was freed.
Investigators believe she was kidnapped for ransom.
   Martino, 65, was released Thursday, U.N. police spokesman Fred Blaze
said.
   Paolo Vitiello, Martino's nephew, said he had seen her and added she was
in good health.
   Armed men entered the couple's villa Monday in the capital
Port-au-Prince, shooting Martino's husband, 67-year-old businessman Guido
Vitiello, before abducting her. Vitiello later died of his wounds in a
hospital.
   Martino, who has lived in Haiti for about 30 years, was also briefly
kidnapped last year.
   Haiti experienced relative calm after President Rene Preval's February
election. Since May, however, dozens of foreigners and Haitians have been
kidnapped, and gang fighting has forced hundreds to flee their homes in the
capital.