A Haitian journalist and his father were released on Saturday by a group of gunmen after kidnappers settled for a lower-than-expected amount of ransom, according to reports from Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti.
Wadson Desir, a journalist for radio Metropole and a contributor to Radio France Internationale, was kidnapped on Friday along with his father while driving on the main road heading north of the capital.
The Desirs' release was negotiated by Joseph Guyler Delva, who heads the Haitian association SOS journalists, who persuaded the kidnappers to lower the ransom from 80,000 US dollars to 4,500 dollars. Fellow journalists had pooled money for the ransom.
"The gangs didn't beat him, and released him against a reasonable ransom an hour ago," said Rotschild Francois Junior, program director at Radio Metropole, a leading Haitian radio station where Desir works. The station didn't say how much was paid for the ransom or who paid it.
Desir was quoted by the Associated Press as saying he was "all right now," but he said "it was more fright than harm." Desir said he and his father were abducted within eyesight of a UN unit, who did not intervene.
Damian Onses-Cardona, spokesman for the UN mission in Haiti, said he was surprised to hear Desir's account and if troops had witnessed the kidnapping, they probably had not intervened because of heavy shooting in the area. "Fighting kidnappings is an absolute priority for the UN in Haiti," Onses-Cardona said, noting UN troops have helped free hostages and arrest kidnappers in several operations.
Desir said a gang leader told him they were kidnapping people because they needed money to buy more ammunition so his men could fight off the UN offensive into the slum. About 1,500 UN troops in armoured vehicles are trying to reclaim the area. "Of course, I didn't tell them I worked for radio Metropole, they would probably have killed me," Desir said.
The country has seen a surge in violent clashes and kidnappings since former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in an armed revolt in February 2004. Metropole had joined the opposition to ousted Aristide. More than 1,000 people have been kidnapped for ransom in the country since March.
More than 7,600 UN peacekeepers and international police are currently stationed in Haiti to help keep public order, as delayed elections to replace the interim government are now slated for January. Most armed gangs in the slums of the capital are believed to still be loyal to the ousted president and the UN said it fears some Aristide supporters could try to stir up violence ahead of the elections.
Desir was the second journalist to be kidnapped in recent months. Jacques Roche, who worked for the newspaper Le Matin and hosted a TV talk show, was found tortured to death last July after he being abducted. Roche had criticised Aristide in several editorials. On June 16, Nancy Roc, who hosted a weekly show for Radio Métropole, fled the country after she was threatened with abduction.
