Haitians kidnap 4, seek ransom

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Two French missionaries and two Haitians were kidnapped near a volatile slum in Haiti's capital, a U.N. official said Thursday.

The four were seized on Wednesday as they traveled on a road near Cite Soleil, a sprawling slum on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince used as a base by heavily armed gangs blamed for a wave of kidnappings and violence in the capital, said David Wimhurst, a U.N. spokesman.

The captors have demanded a ransom, and Haiti's anti-kidnapping squad was working to secure the hostages' release, said Wimhurst, who did not identify the two French nationals other than to say one was a priest and the other a nun. He said he had no information about the identities of the kidnapped Haitians.

A wave of kidnappings has plagued the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, where criminal gangs have flourished in the aftermath of the rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.

Last month, there were 162 reported kidnap cases in Haiti, and January has seen 37 so far, Wimhurst said.

The actual number is probably much higher because victims' families often prefer to negotiate with kidnappers rather than notify police.

With Feb. 7 national elections approaching, 9,000 U.N. soldiers and police have increasingly tried to gain control of Cite Soleil, home to 200,000 people living in squalor and a stronghold of armed gangs allegedly linked to Aristide.