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American missionary kidnapped near Haitian capital

Associated Press

Last updated: Tuesday, February 06th, 2007 10:53:32 AM

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI -- The United Nations and Haitian police are working to gain the release of an American missionary.

Armed kidnappers seized the missionary as he left his church near Haiti's capital Monday. They're demanding ransom.

The missionary - Nathan Jean-Bieubonne - is a US citizen of Haitian descent. A UN police spokesman says he was snatched as he and three others were driving home. The other passengers were left unharmed.

Kidnappings for ransom surged in the impoverished Caribbean nation last year but have fallen in recent weeks as a UN peacekeeping force and Haitian police step up patrols around the capital.

Foreign missionaries, who usually travel with less security than diplomats and businesspeople, have increasingly become targets.

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FBI negotiators sent to Haiti to help free kidnapped U.S. missionary

The Associated Press

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

Two FBI hostage negotiators were en route to Haiti on Tuesday to help secure the release of a kidnapped American missionary, an official said.

FBI special agent Judy Orihuela told The Associated Press that the family of 58-year-old Nathan Jean-Bieubonne requested help in negotiating with his captors.

Jean-Bieubonne, a U.S. citizen of Haitian descent, was driving home Sunday from Betheal Church with three companions when gunmen surrounded the pastor's all-terrain vehicle and forced him out at gunpoint in a suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The captors later contacted Jean-Bieubonne's family and demanded a ransom for his release. Authorities have declined to say how much they are seeking.

U.N. police spokesman Fred Blaise said Jean-Bieubonne apparently has not been hurt and that his family described him as being "in good spirits."

The FBI negotiators were expected to arrive in the Caribbean country on Tuesday, Orihuela said from Miami. She added it is standard procedure for FBI negotiators to assist in cases of U.S. citizens who are kidnapped overseas.

A U.N. anti-kidnapping force and Haitian police were also working to free Jean-Bieubonne, whose church denomination and hometown in the United States have not been made public.

Kidnappings for ransom are one of the biggest security threats in Haiti, which is struggling to recover from a 2004 revolt that toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and touched off a bloody crime wave blamed mostly on street gangs.

Kidnappers have increasingly targeted foreign missionaries, many of whom travel with little security and work in poorer areas where police presence is thin.

U.N. troops and Haitian police have stepped up patrols in the capital, prompting kidnappers to look for victims in outlying suburbs.