French Citizen Kidnapped In Haiti By Armed Men - Reports

A French national was kidnapped in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, marking yet another abduction case in the long line of similar incidents, French broadcaster LCI reported on Saturday, citing police sources

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2022) A French national was kidnapped in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, marking yet another abduction case in the long line of similar incidents, French broadcaster LCI reported on Saturday, citing police sources.

According to law enforcement sources, the victim was a 45-year-old man who worked as a computer consultant and frequently visited Haiti for professional reasons. The police source told LCI that the abduction took place on Friday at 5 p.m. local time (21:00 GMT).

Preliminary reports revealed that the man was near the entrance of his home in Port-au-Prince when several heavily armed men forced him into a vehicle, the source said. Several residents tried to stop the vehicle, but the kidnappers responded with violence and fled the scene with the victim, hitting other vehicles.

According to human rights activists, over 1,000 people were kidnapped in Haiti in 2021, and more than 200 in January-April this year. In early May, a Dominican diplomat was kidnapped in the Croix-des-Bouquets area in Haiti and soon was released. Several days after this incident eight Turkish citizens were abducted in the same area.

The recent kidnappings have taken place amid clashes between local gangs that control peripheral areas of the capital, causing residents of those areas to flee their homes.

The situation is exacerbated by a shortage of weapons for policemen due to a UN Security Council arms embargo, which was imposed after a democratically elected government was overthrown in 1991. Since then, there has been a partial lifting of the embargo, but the restrictions have not been fully suspended.