 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, May 6 (UPI) -- A Russian contractor abducted in Haiti has been freed, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced Friday. Russian officials would not release the man's full name, referring to him in a statement as "D.Y. Khmelevsky, a Russian national." No ransom was paid, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. It was unknown who was behind his kidnapping. | Some very practical people with a highly developed sense of survival |
Two foreigners had been abducted in recent days, the first such incidents since fighting broke out early 2004, a U.N. official said. An Indian businessman remains in the hands of unknown captors. | Indians don't send hit squads. Don't know if they have friends who are presidents of oil producing countries south of Hati who shop for Russian arms. |
Armed rebel groups began taking over parts of the country at the beginning of last year to force then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power. Aristide finally left the country in February 2004. U.N. peacekeeping forces are helping Haitian police control the violence and assisting the interim government to prepare for elections set for the end of the year. |