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Haiti - FLASH : A ransom was paid for the release of American hostages
07/01/2022 09:44:56
Testimonies from former hostages and other staff of the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries (CAM) in recent recorded interviews with, among others, with religious groups admitted for the first that ransom was paid to the "400 mawoso" gang after the October 16 kidnappings of 16 Americans and a Canadian affiliated with CAM https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35012-haiti-flash-at-least-fifteen-american-missionaries-kidnapped-in-port-au-prince.html
"In the course of this whole thing, there was Christian Aid Ministries' no-ransom policy," Philip Mast, a CAM Executive Committee member, said in a recent talk at Mt. Moriah Mennonite Church in Crossville, Tennessee. "there was a donor who offered to take the negotiations and deal with the situation, and so CAM accepted that offer."
This unidentified donor paid a ransom that was supposed to lead to the release of the remaining 15 hostages in early December 2021, CAM employees confirmed.
The donor who made the payment was not affiliated with CAM's Ohio, and employees say they don't know who he is or how much was paid to the gang, who were initially asking $1 million per hostage for their releases https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35037-haiti-flash-the-gang-400-mawozo-demands-one-million-dollars-for-the-release-of-each-american-hostage.html
Barry Grant, CAM's field director in Titanyen, Haiti, said the kidnappers "reneged on the deal". Austin Smucker (one of the ex-hostages) and Grant both said they learned that some members of the gang refused to release all the hostages in an attempt to force the Haitian government to release their jailed leader. Due to this internal conflict and despite the payment of a ransom, the gang released only three hostages on December 5, 2021 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35417-haiti-flash-3-new-american-hostages-released.html
While CAM officials praised "God for working miraculously" to allow the hostages to escape https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35529-haiti-flash-the-400-mawozo-gang-did-not-release-the-12-hostages-they-escaped.html An article published on December 30 in the Yonkers Times of New York citing an anonymous source, claimed that the gang had deliberately left the door unattended and allowed the 12 hostages to march to freedom in respect of the payment of the ransom agreement.
Another person the newspaper described as having "first-hand and detailed knowledge" of the case, said if the gang had not allowed them to leave, someone would have reported the escapees long before they were in security.
Read also on this case :
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35529-haiti-flash-the-400-mawozo-gang-did-not-release-the-12-hostages-they-escaped.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35497-haiti-flash-the-gang-400-mawozo-released-all-the-american-hostages.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35513-haiti-flash-christian-aid-ministries-forgives-the-kidnappers-of-the-17-american-hostages.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35417-haiti-flash-3-new-american-hostages-released.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35299-haiti-flash-2-of-the-17-kidnapped-american-hostages-released.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35204-haiti-news-zapping.html
https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-35112-icihaiti-insecurity-the-pnh-has-proof-that-the-16-american-hostages-are-alive.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35094-haiti-flash-joe-biden-sends-a-large-number-of-specialists-to-release-the-american-hostages-in-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35061-haiti-news-zapping.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35053-haiti-news-zapping.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35037-haiti-flash-the-gang-400-mawozo-demands-one-million-dollars-for-the-release-of-each-american-hostage.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35028-haiti-news-zapping.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35012-haiti-flash-at-least-fifteen-american-missionaries-kidnapped-in-port-au-prince.html
SL/ HaitiLibre
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