Free Republic

SNIPPET: "Three Spanish aid workers were kidnapped in the North African nation Mauritania on Sunday. Spain’s Interior Minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, expressed his concerns that kidnappers could be members of the North African branch of Al Qaeda." SNIPPET: "The names of the workers kidnapped are Alicia Gámez, Roque Pascual and Albert Vilalta. Vilalta’s father, Albert Vilalta is a former regional councilor for the environment."

MEXICO CITY – A news reporter who wrote about violent drug crimes has been strangled in the northern Mexican state of Durango, authorities said Tuesday. El Tiempo de Durango journalist Jose Bladimir Antuna was kidnapped Monday morning, said Ruben Lopez, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office. Authorities found his body that night in a vacant lot in the state capital, about 400 miles southwest of Laredo, Texas. State authorities are investigating the murder. Lopez would not specify whether they suspected connections with organized crime. But Antuna had told his colleagues at the newspaper that he had received multiple telephone...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A newborn boy abducted by a woman posing as an immigration agent was again taken from his mother after a brief reunion, this time by state officials who said the baby and his three siblings would be safest with foster parents. Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, said the children were taken from their mother, Maria Gurrolla, "purely for safety reasons," though he would not detail why they were in danger. Johnson said officials made arrangements for Gurrolla to see her baby Saturday afternoon and hold him, four days after he was...

NEAR ALTON — Gunshots broke out late Friday afternoon before a gang of men kidnapped two others near a rural workshop beside an orchard. Sheriff’s deputies said several men kidnapped Armado Cantu and Eliberto Mireles were working at the tool shop at 10612 N. Moorefield Road about 5:30 p.m. Friday. Dispatchers received a call about a shooting, but after deputies arrived it was clear two men had also been kidnapped, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. Witnesses told deputies Cantu and Mireles were working outside the tool shop when several men pulled up in a white Ford Explorer and a...

Note: The following text is a quote: Madhatta Haipe Extradited to U.S. for 1995 Hostage Taking Involving U.S. and Philippine Citizens WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced that Madhatta Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines, has been extradited from the Philippines to face trial in the District of Columbia for various crimes relating to the hostage taking of U.S. and Philippine citizens in 1995. Haipe was arrested Aug. 27 upon his arrival in the United States and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in the District of Columbia to face a seven-count indictment filed on...

A woman girl who has been missing from her South Lake Tahoe home has surfaced in Concord, 18 years after she was kidnapped, and two people are apparently in custody, her stepfather said today. Jaycee Dugard, who would be 29 today, walked into the Concord Police Department on Wednesday, stunning police and family members who had all but lost hope that she was still alive.

On July 11th, PFC James Gonzalez told his family he was heading to Laredo to hang out with friends before returning to the Ft Hood. But on July 13th Gonzalez' commander called looking for the private. "They've asked what our thoughts are about him going AWOL. It just doesn't add up with the phone..it goes straight to voice mail. If he would have done it he would have contacted somebody," said Jason Gonzalez, who is James' brother. The Gonzalez family says the FBI called them to say the Army had received a call saying the private had been kidnapped. The...

Note: Photo included. # SNIPPET: "Two French security advisers helping the Somali government have been kidnapped in the capital Mogadishu, French officials have said. Gunmen who were wearing police uniforms entered the hotel where the two were staying and took them away, eyewitnesses said. The abductions took place in a government-held part of Mogadishu. Islamist rebels are battling troops from the UN-backed interim government for control of the city." SNIPPET: "The French foreign ministry said the two advisers were in Mogadishu on an official mission to provide help to the government. They were seized at the Sahafi Hotel, which has...

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Nigeria Kidnapping Incident, Southern Travel Risks CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Nigeria 13 Jul 2009 U.S. Embassy Abuja and U.S. Consulate General Lagos jointly issued the following Warden Message on July 13: This warden message is being issued to warn all U.S. citizens of the continuing risks of travel in southern and southeastern Nigeria. On June 29, 2009, a U.S. citizen was kidnapped from a vehicle on the Izombe-Owerri road in Imo State. The U.S. Government worked with...

Cairo (AINA) -- In another incident of abduction and forced Islamization of Coptic minor girls, 16-year old Nermeen Mitry was abducted by a Muslim man to coerce her into converting to Islam. She was successfully recovered on the same day by her family, who did their own investigation and search to locate her. Nermeen was abducted from El-Mahalla by Muslim Hossam Hamouda in conspiracy with his aunt Leila Attia; she was hidden away by a third person called Nasser Abu Deif from Assuit in Upper Egypt, at the home of one of his female relatives called Rasha Soliman in Zagazig....

THE FIRST BULLETIN Tuesday that a Bucks County woman and her 9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped made national news because it was all just so unbelievable - a car crash on a busy street, mysterious men in a black Cadillac and a mom who made a frantic 9-1-1 call while trapped inside a trunk. Yesterday, the world learned exactly why the saga of 38-year-old Bonnie Sweeten and her 9-year-old daughter, Julia Rakoczy, was so incredible. It just wasn't true. And in an ending that was ironic beyond belief, mother and daughter were tracked down last night in America's ultimate land...

Filipino Militants Behead Kidnapped Farmer: Police By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: May 17, 2009 ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine police recovered the severed head of a farm owner kidnapped by Muslim militants and authorities said Monday he was likely beheaded because his family failed to pay ransom. Doroteo Gonzales, 61, was snatched by gunmen April 25 from his house in southern Zamboanga city and brought to nearby Basilan Island, where al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding at least five other people in a surge of ransom kidnappings. The gunmen were believed to have links to the Abu Sayyaf, and Gonzales...

BAGHDAD, May 14, 2009 – Under the cover of night, an element of Iraqi special operations forces recovered a young kidnap victim being held for ransom in the Iraqi capital during an early-morning, Iraqi-led operation yesterday. An Iraqi special operations forces battalion commander greets an 8-year-old boy at a May 13, 2009, meeting in Baghdad after soldiers rescued the boy from kidnappers who had held him for ransom for two days. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jeffrey Ledesma  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Operating under the authority of a warrant issued by Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Bureau, the Iraqi...

Note: The following article SNIPPET is a quote: WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) -- The body of a kidnapped 5-year-old Christian boy was discovered riddled with gunshots in Iraq on May 11. International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has learned that Tony Adwar Shaweel was kidnapped on March 5, 2009 by an unknown group who demanded a ransom of $50,000. ICC says the identity of Tony's kidnappers and murderers is still unknown. However, Christians in Iraq have been increasingly targeted by criminal gangs, Islamic extremists and other armed groups as part of a broader strategy to drive the Iraqi Christian population from country....

NUEVO LAREDO - There were at least 15 "express kidnappings" of Central Americans in January and February in this border city, civil rights officials said Wednesday. All were released after family members in the United States met ransom demands. The figures were released at a news conference by José Luis Manso Ramírez, coordinator of the Centro de Derechos Humanos del Migrante (center for immigrant human rights), and Father Francisco Pellizari, director of Nuevo Laredo's Casa del Migrante. "I have documents with testimony from victims of express kidnappings in this city," Manso said. "They were deprived of their freedom up to...

(IsraelNN.com) Claudio Lifschitz, the attorney who prosecuted the case against those involved in the deadly 1994 terrorist attack on Argentina's AMIA Jewish community center, said he was kidnapped and tortured on Saturday. His captors, he said, were members of the Argentinian intelligence agency.

Al-Qaida's North Africa branch claimed Wednesday it is holding hostage a senior U.N. peace envoy, his aide and four tourists kidnapped in the Sahara Desert in recent weeks. "We announce to the general public that the mujahideen (holy warriors) reserve the right to deal with the six kidnapped according to Islamic Shariah law," the al-Qaida group said in a statement posted Wednesday ...

QUETTA, Pakistan — SNIPPET: "The abduction occurred as the man was heading to his job as the head of the U.N. refugee office in the main southwest city of Quetta, senior police official Khalid Masood said. Masood identified the kidnapped official as John Solecki, and said he was from the United States."

TIJUANA — Mexican soldiers freed three kidnapped businessmen Wednesday evening after an anonymous tip led them to a home in the Mesa de Otay area, authorities said at a news conference Thursday. Soldiers said they encountered little resistance when they stormed the home. They arrested eight men, confiscated 25 guns and took more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition, army officials said. Based on information gathered at the home, soldiers went to a residence in La Presa where three more men were arrested. They are accused of participating in the attack on the Baja California Attorney General's Office in Tijuana early...

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexican gunmen have kidnapped a U.S. security consultant who negotiated the release of dozens of kidnap victims in Latin America. Gunmen abducted Felix Batista outside a restaurant last Wednesday in the relatively safe northern industrial city of Saltillo in Coahuila state, Mexican authorities and his employer, security consultancy ASI Global, said on Monday. Batista, a Miami-based Cuban American credited with negotiating the release of victims abducted by Colombian rebels, was snatched after he stepped outside the restaurant, answering a call on his cellular phone, Mexican media said. The U.S. embassy in Mexico City said it was...

KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. Special Forces soldiers freed a kidnapped American working for the Army Corps of Engineers during a nighttime mission last week — a rare hostage rescue in a country where ransom abductions have become increasingly common. The American, who had been working on U.S. government-funded infrastructure projects, was abducted in mid-August and had been held just 30 miles west of Kabul with no public notice of his abduction. The dangerous mission to free the U.S. contractor killed several insurgents, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Taliban militants have kidnapped several international aid workers and journalists in recent...

AMBER ALERT LAS VEGAS, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Las Vegas police say they are looking for the grandfather of a missing boy who was presumed kidnapped in a case that apparently involves drug trafficking. Police Friday said Clemens Tinnemeyer was a "significant person of interest" in the abduction of 6-year-old Cole Puffinberger, and was believed to be involved in drug dealing when he was last seen in May. Tinnemeyer last had contact with his family in August. He was reported missing last month and was last seen driving a white 2004 Dodge pickup with Mississippi license plate KA6251. The Las...

We are asking prayer for safety,well-being and release of the Korean hostages from Taliban terrorists. 2-3 of the hostages have been murdered! Negotiations for release are political, so the process is slow and painful. Please pray for families involved waiting for their loved ones. Thank You for your prayerful support. Hebrews 13:3..Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.

BOISE, Idaho - A longtime sex offender was sentenced to death Wednesday for the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of a 9-year-old northern Idaho boy after federal jurors who watched video of some of the brutality deliberated just three hours. The jurors' recommendation was binding on U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, who thanked them, dismissed them and then sentenced Joseph Edward Duncan III. Relatives of the victim, Dylan Groene, remained somber as the jury's decision was announced. Duncan murdered Dylan's mother, older brother and his mother's fiance to kidnap him and his younger sister, who was sexually abused along with...

COPS were last night probing a dramatic new “sighting” of Madeleine McCann just FIVE DAYS ago. snip... The woman seemed to be struggling to speak French. And the fact she had a blue-eyed, blonde girl of four or five with her raised the guard’s suspicions. snip.... There are fears that Maddie was snatched to order for Belgian paedophiles.

Three German tourists kidnapped in eastern Turkey Three German tourists were kidnapped in Turkey's eastern province of Agri, CNNTurk reported on Wednesday. They were kidnapped by terrorists, it added quoting the governor of Agri. (UPDATED) Three German climbers on Mount Ararat were kidnapped in Turkey's eastern province of Agri, CNNTurk reported on Wednesday. The three, who were party of a 13-member team, were kidnapped by terrorists, it added quoting the governor of Agri

PESHAWAR: In one of the most embarrassing incidents in the history of the provincial metropolis, 25 members of the Christian community were kidnapped when armed men attacked a building in the Christian Colony near the Academy Town on Saturday. "There were a large number of people gathered at around 8 pm and were preparing for worship when armed men broke into the building and picked up 25 to 40 Christians in pick-up vans," a resident of the Christian Colony, Isac, told The News. He said that two of those picked up by the armed men were priests. Sources said that...

A 14-year-old Boise, Idaho, girl has disappeared and is believed to be in danger after meeting a 27-year-old man on the Internet. Police say the girl may be in the Seattle area with the man, who is wanted on a kidnapping warrant. The girl, Saddie "Elaine" Julian, was last seen Wednesday morning. Authorities are asking for the public's help in locating her. She is described as 5 feet tall, weighing 90 pounds, with pale skin, long red hair and a thin build. According to police, Saddie developed an online relationship with Morgan Douglas Jones, 27, of Birmingham, Ala., while playing...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers rescued a kidnapped Iraqi citizen May 8 near Ibrahim Bin Ali, northwest of Baghdad. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment “Gimlets,” 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, acted on tips from Iraqi Army soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, in addition to tips provided by Iraqi Police and Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) members. The suspected kidnappers were detained and are being held for further questioning. “U.S. soldiers, in full partnership with Iraqi Security Forces, are aggressively pursuing criminals and terrorists,...

For Immediate Release April 30, 2008 The faith-based organization TEAM, located in the United States, announces that it has arranged for an aircraft operated by a medical non-governmental organization in Chad to fly to Bardai to receive Steve Godbold, who has been detained by rebel forces since October 10, 2007. TEAM also offers to allow a representative of the international media to accompany this flight to observe the process. On April 28, 2008 the President of the MDJT, Mr. Choua Dazi, stated in an interview published by Liberté sans frontières and posted at www.dabio.net that Mr. Godbold is “free” and...

LONG BEACH (KABC) -- A man was kidnapped from his Long Beach business Thursday. A short time later, his family received a phone call demanding a large ransom. …It has now been just about 24 hours since that man was abducted from his auto repair shop. His kidnappers are asking for money for his safe return. … Police say at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, three Hispanic men came to the Mr. Auto Body Repair Shop on the border of North Long Beach and Paramount and ushered the owner into a car and drove off. Maurilio Robles, 47, was kidnapped. …...

BAGHDAD — Following a tip, Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers rescued a kidnapped man in the northwestern part of the Rashid District of the Iraqi capital March 18. The tip led Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division to a building in Bayaa where they found a battered man locked in a room. He was taken to a Coalition Medical Facility for treatment. (Multi-National Division – Baghdad)

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for kidnapping two Austrian tourists last month in Tunisia in an audio recording aired Monday on Al-Jazeera television. A man who identified himself as Salah Abu Mohammed said in the recording that the terrorist group kidnapped the two Austrians on Feb. 22 in retribution for Western cooperation with Israel, but said the hostages were in good health. "We tell Western tourists that at the same time they are flowing into Tunisian lands seeking joy, our brothers are being slain in Gaza by the Jews with the collaboration of the Western...

BAGHDAD — Two CBS News journalists were missing in the predominantly Shiite southern city of Basra, the network said Monday. CBS said all efforts were under way to find the journalists, who were not identified by the network. It requested "that others do not speculate on the identities of those involved" until more information was available. Iraqi police said the journalists were taken away Sunday after masked gunmen entered the Sultan Palace Hotel in central Basra. The police spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. "CBS News has been in touch with the...

A U.S. aid worker has been kidnapped in southern Afghanistan. The governor of Kandahar province, Asadullah Khalid, says gunmen abducted the 49-year-old woman and her driver Saturday while they were traveling near the southern city of Kandahar. The American woman was wearing a burqa and was on her way to work. Khalid says the woman had been living in the province for a while. He says she worked for a non-governmental organization focusing on agriculture and development. No group has claimed responsibility yet for the kidnapping and officials are searching for the abductors. The provincial governor called the kidnappers enemies...

Another Laredo family has turned to the media in hopes of obtaining any new information with respect to the whereabouts of a missing relative.Virginia "Vicky" Canales, 44, went missing in July while traveling to Nuevo Laredo to pick up a friend, said Canales' daughter, Cindy Canales. "It's kind of like she went out to get something and never came back," Cindy Canales said about her mother's disappearance. "We hit just about every angle we could," Laredo Police Detective Mario Soria said. "And no leads. She was en route to some business and that's the last time she was heard of."...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2007 – Seven sheiks kidnapped in northern Baghdad two days ago were rescued by soldiers from 9th Iraqi Army Division during a mission yesterday. The mission, supported by U.S. military advisors and soldiers from both 82nd Airborne Division and 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, resulted in the sheiks’ rescue, the capture of four abductors and the death of three extremists. The body of an eighth sheik also was discovered at the scene. The sheiks were taken to a nearby Iraqi army facility, where they received medical attention. Several said they had been beaten with a tire iron. The...

N'DJAMENA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. evangelical church missionary working on a U.S. government-backed development project in northern Chad has been kidnapped by rebels, Chadian and U.S. officials said on Thursday. "The governor of the northern BET region has told me that an American priest has been kidnapped in the Tibesti (mountains) by remaining members of the MDJT rebel movement," Secretary of State for the Interior Abderamane Djasnabaille told Reuters. "The rebels took his vehicle and they are holding him at Zoumri," he added. A leader of Chad's Evangelical Church, Pastor Ngardei Bako, identified the kidnapped American as Steve...

SAN JOSE - The man who kidnapped and tried to sexually assault a 12-year-old San Jose girl Monday deliberately struck her with his car before abducting her, police said today. The girl fought off her attacker and managed to get away, but is still hospitalized with severe injuries, police said. Police said the girl and her younger sister were crossing the street as they walked home from a store near Gardendale Drive and Barbara Way about 4:15 p.m. when the man pulled his car forward and hit the girl. She landed on the hood of the car, which was described...

British forces help free Italians in Afghanistan Last Updated: 1:43am BST 25/09/2007 British special forces were involved in a daring raid to rescue two kidnapped Italians in Afghanistan. Commandos from the Special Boat Service (SBS) joined a multi-national military team led by Italian troops to free the two intelligence officers who have been missing since Saturday. A fierce gun battle broke out when the SBS force ambushed the kidnappers as they tried to move the Italians in two four-wheel drive vehicles. One of the Italians was seriously wounded while the other has non-life threatening injuries. At least nine of the...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's presidential office denied a Taliban claim on Saturday that it had paid a ransom of more than $20 million for the release of 19 Christian missionaries held hostage in Afghanistan. "We deny any payment for the release of South Korean hostages," said an official at the presidential Blue House.

Kidnapped German freed in Kabul Mrs Meier appeared in a video hours before her release A German woman who was kidnapped at gunpoint from a restaurant in the Afghan capital Kabul has been released. Reports say Christina Meier was freed during a police raid on a house on the outskirts of the city, and a number of her suspected abductors were arrested. Earlier, the aid worker was seen in a video released by her captors and broadcast on Afghan TV. A German foreign ministry spokeswoman said the aid worker was now at the German diplomatic mission in Kabul. The BBC's...

Taleban rule the road in Ghazni Alastair Leithead BBC News, Ghazni, central Afghanistan Thunder echoed around the wide valley announcing the arrival of a blinding sandstorm that rushed along the roads and down corridors between tall, impenetrable mud compounds. The hostages could be held in as many as 15 separate villages The dust whipped up around the police - dozens of them, all heavily armed - who accompanied us to the place where the South Korean church volunteers had been kidnapped. They tentatively showed us where they think the 21 survivors are being held. In two weeks, two hostages have...

South Korean officials have begun their first face-to-face talks with Taleban militants on the fate of 21 Christian hostages, Afghan officials say. The talks were being held in the city of Ghazni, a senior official in the province told the BBC. The official said he was optimistic about the outcome of the talks. Two of the South Korean hostages have been killed, and the Taleban say they will kill more of them if a number of militants are not released from prison. Earlier the Taleban said the Afghan government had provided a written promise of safe passage to two of...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2007 – Iraqi National Police rescued a female Iraqi army soldier who had been kidnapped yesterday by suspected extremist militia group members in the Bubasham area of Baghdad, officials in Iraq reported today. The woman, a nurse for the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, was kidnapped early in yesterday morning. Her kidnappers wore Iraqi National Police uniforms. “She said they kidnapped her because she worked for the ‘dirty group’ and they wanted to ‘clean her,’" said Army Capt. Thomas Vogan, a U.S. intelligence advisor for the 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Division National Police...

JACKSON, Miss. -- A 5-month-old baby girl was kidnapped at gunpoint Saturday morning near Mantachie in northeast Mississippi's Itawamba County. The Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert following the kidnapping, which happened around 11:30 a.m. The FBI and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation joined the search Saturday afternoon. Authorities consider the child to be in danger and said the kidnapping suspects could be headed to Atlanta. Itawamba County sits on the border with Alabama and is about 60 miles from the Tennesseee state line as well.

LISBON, Portugal — The home of a British man was being searched Monday by police looking for missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal on May 3. The man, Robert Murat, was taken to a police station. His mother told Sky News that he has not been arrested. She said no trace of Madeleine had been found at the villa. The property is just 150 yards from the apartment where Madeleine's family were staying, in the southern Portuguese resort of Praia Da Luz. ... McCann vanished May 3 after her parents left her, and her brother and sister, both...

I Will Never Leave a Fallen Comrade Lest We Forget… Is the US Army doing all it can to recover this kidnapped soldier?Ahmed Altaie is an Iraqi American working as a military translator. Ahmed is called a “man of peace” who wants to help both his native Iraq and his adopted country, the United States. He has a quiet nature and heart of gold and is always respectable to all that he meets. He loves music and plays keyboards. Prior to his joining the Us Army, Ahmed went to an Aviation Technical school to become an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic....

The head of the United Nations body mandated to protect press freedom called on Tuesday for the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston who was abducted in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago (March 12th). BBC Says Reporter 'OK' BBC says received assurances kidnapped reporter is 'okay' / Associated Press (VIDEO) BBC's Middle East Bureau Editor Simon Wilson holds news conference week following Alan Johnston's abduction in Gaza. 'As time passes, we are growing increasingly concerned about Alan's safety,' Wilson says Full Story “When a journalist is abducted, the whole of society is taken hostage,” UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural...

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The body of missing 6-year-old Christopher Barrios was found around 4 p.m. near the Brunswick, Ga., airport, police confirmed Thursday Christopher had been missing since last Thursday. His body was found about two miles from his home.