Haiti abduction: US, Canadian missionaries kidnapped by 400 Mawozo gang 'still alive'

While the gang behind the kidnapping of US and Canadian missionaries in Haiti, 400 Mawozo, had earlier threatened to kill the group of 17 missionaries and children that it abducted last week, Haiti’s Judicial Police has informed Le Nouvelliste newspaper that all the members of the religious organization Christian Aid Ministries are still alive. Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries had expressed concerns after the 400 Mawozo gang released video footage showing their leader threatening to kill those kidnapped if his demands of $1 million ransom per person were not met. Among those kidnapped the youngest is a child aged 8 months old. 

Wilson Joseph, alias Lanmò san jou, the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang said in the footage: "If I don't have what I'm asking for [ransom], I'll kill them. I left a gun pointed at the head of each of them," he added. 

“You may wonder why our workers chose to live in a difficult and dangerous context, despite the apparent risks,” the organization said in a statement after the video surfaced.

"Before leaving for Haiti, our workers who are now being held hostage expressed a desire to faithfully serve God in Haiti.” The group then added, “Pray that their commitment to God could become even stronger during this difficult experience.” 

'Negotiations are underway,' says Haiti's Central Directorate of Judicial Police

As fears loomed about the safety of the abducted members, the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) of Haiti told the local newspaper that while the negotiations with the gang members were ongoing, they were given the proof that 16 American nationals and the Canadian kidnapped in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets on October 16, were all alive.

“Negotiations are underway for the release of foreigners. It is the anti-kidnapping and counter-kidnapping cell at the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police which is in discussion with the kidnappers. We have proof of life from all the kidnapped, ” a police source told Le Nouvelliste on Thursday, October 28.

The paper's source added, "We have with us several FBI agents who collaborate with us, but it is the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police which leads the negotiations."

Earlier at a White House presser, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that Washington “will do everything in its power” to free the US citizens taken hostage by the gang members. “We have in the administration been relentlessly focused on this,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his visit to Ecuador last week. Adding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was now involved in the matter, Blinken told the presser that they will do everything to resolve the situation. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki informed in a briefing that the FBI was involved as a part of a coordinated US government effort to get the abducted citizens out to safety.

Additionally, she said that the American embassy in Port au Prince was coordinating with the family members of the kidnapped US missionaries. "Kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include US citizens. We know these groups target US citizens who they assume have the resources and finances to pay ransoms, even if that is not the case,” Psaki told the White House briefing.  

(Image: AP)