29981: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-Missionary freed (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 9 (AP) -- An American missionary kidnapped outside
the Haitian capital was released Friday, U.N. police and friends said,
although there were conflicting reports about whether Nathan Jean-Dieudonne
was harmed during the ordeal.
   Jean-Dieudonne, 58, was abducted Sunday while driving home from his
church in suburban Croix-des-Bouquets. It was not immediately clear if a
ransom was paid.
   U.N. police spokesman Fred Blaise said Jean-Dieudonne, a U.S. citizen of
Haitian descent, was released unharmed before dawn. However, the pastor of
the church of Jean-Dieudonne's wife said in Falls Church, Va., that he may
have been beaten while in captivity.
   Pastor Glenn Dryden of the Dunn Loring Community Church of God said
Jean-Dieudonne may have been beaten, but he declined to give details. "I
just know that it's been a very traumatic time for his family, and I know
by a second-hand account it was a very traumatic for him as well," Dryden
said by telephone.
   The FBI sent hostage negotiators to Haiti to help secure the release of
Jean-Dieudonne, a U.S. citizen of Haitian descent. A U.N. anti-kidnapping
squad and Haitian police also worked to free him.