Gunmen in Haiti kidnap children, demand ransom
Source: Reuters
By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Gunmen have abducted at least seven children in a suburb of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, the latest in a wave of kidnappings for ransom in the poor Caribbean nation, police said on Thursday. "Now the kidnappers target children because they know the children are our hearts. They want to hit us in the heart so they can get the money more rapidly," said Fred Blaise, a spokesman for the United Nations police force in Haiti. The captors demanded an undisclosed ransom for the children, and U.N. and Haitian police were attempting to negotiate their release. "We are in communication with the bandits in order to secure the release of the children," Blaise said. The children were kidnapped on Wednesday when their school bus was hijacked on its way to school in the suburb of Marin. Police did not disclose their exact number nor their ages but said they were in touch with the children's parents. Residents joined police in a house-to-house search of the area on Thursday. The rising number of kidnappings is threatening efforts to stabilize deeply impoverished Haiti two years after it's previous president was driven into exile in a violent rebellion. About 100 kidnappings for ransom were reported last month and at least 60 have occurred so far this month, including that of a 6-year-old boy in Port-au-Prince and murdered in the northern city of Cap Haitien. Haiti enjoyed a brief lull in violence after President Rene Preval won elections in February. But crime is rising.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
