Wave of kidnappings hits Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- A new rash of kidnappings has raised fears that well-armed, politically aligned street gangs are seeking to destabilize Haiti's new government, threatening U.N.-led efforts to restore security 2 1/2 years after a crippling revolt.

Others say the gangs are simply after cash and see kidnappings as a lucrative source of revenue to buy more arms and fuel other criminal enterprises in this impoverished country.

But most agree on one thing -- the problem is getting worse.

It reached boiling point this week when scores of people -- including three Americans -- were snatched by gunmen in an unprecedented series of bold, daylight attacks in the capital of Port-au-Prince.

Almost no one has been spared -- missionaries, employees of foreign embassies and Haitians rich and poor have fallen victim to the trend that has given Haiti the highest kidnapping rate in the Americas.

"We are beyond afraid," said Patrick Gadere, owner of ceramic tile factory that has been forced to close its warehouse because of violence and whose brother was abducted. "We've been shot at, robbed, kidnapped. We have no other way to make a living."

The kidnapping surge has destroyed a tense calm that prevailed since President Rene Preval took power in May, and prompted new criticism against the U.N. peacekeeping force sent to restore order after the 2004 revolt that toppled ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

At least 30 people have been kidnapped so far in July, about the same number for all of June, said Leslie Dallemand, chief of the U.N.'s anti-kidnapping unit in Haiti. The number is likely much higher because many families prefer to negotiate with kidnappers rather than notify police.

"I haven't had this high of volume since last year," when gangs went on a kidnapping spree before elections, Dallemand said.

Among the victims were three Americans, including two missionaries grabbed by gangsters on their way to church. All three were released unharmed Thursday after negotiations involving the FBI.

Charles Adams, a 70-year-old from Queensbury, N.Y., was working on a water treatment program. He was stuck in traffic, driving back from a meeting, when armed men ambushed his vehicle near the capital's international airport.

"All the sudden I looked up, doors were being ripped open and there were all these people with revolvers and long guns walking around. It was quite an awakening," said Adams, who was freed after a day without paying a ransom.

The abductions come amid sharply rising violence in the capital, including this month's slum massacre of 22 people. Police blamed the killings on warring gangs but have made no arrests.

U.N. and Haitian officials disagree on whether the recent violence is politically motivated.

The U.N. mission says the coordinated nature of the recent attacks suggest an attempt to stir chaos by the gangs, many of which are loyal to Aristide and are demanding his return from exile in South Africa.

"Their violence is motivated to draw attention to the government that they are dissatisfied," U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst said. "It obviously has a destabilizing effect."

But Preval insists the troubles are criminal -- not political -- acts by wanted fugitives, corrupt police and drug traffickers.

Members of Preval's Lespwa party and the business community are calling on the 8,800-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission to take a harder line against gangs.

"This is the first time in our country's history that we've had so many armed forces and yet we're still in this mess," said Gadere, the tile factory owner.

U.N. and police officials say they're doing all they can and blame Haiti's notoriously corrupt justice system for releasing suspected kidnappers and other criminal suspects who can afford bribes.

"We can't keep criminals off the streets if the courts keep letting them go," police chief Mario Andresol said.

Kidnappings were once rare in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The trend flourished after Aristide's departure but leveled off shortly after elections in February.

Foreigners have been particularly vulnerable because they fetch a higher ransom, usually around $10,000, compared to about half that for a Haitian.

Last year, 43 Americans were kidnapped in Haiti, including three who were killed in attempted abductions, according to the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs.

"We have agents down there almost constantly working kidnappings," said Judy Orihuela, an FBI special agent in Miami. "It's surpassed Colombia."