Three more kidnapped in Venezuela as murdered Canadians cremated
CARACAS (AFP) - A woman and her two daughters were reported kidnapped in northeastern Venezuela on the same day that three Canadian brothers and their driver were cremated after being abducted and murdered, local media said.
The woman and her daughters, aged three and eight, were seized early Wednesday in Maturin, the capital of Monagas state, as she drove the girls to school, El Oriental de Maturin newspaper said, citing police officials.
The kidnapping came as protests raged in Caracas over a spate of kidnappings, including the abduction and murder of three Canadian boys and their driver, who were cremated on Thursday.
"My heart is broken and my soul is torn out," said Gladys Diab de Faddoul, the boys' mother after the rite.
Faddoul made slighting references to President Hugo Chavez for not addressing the crimes, but said that her plight had unified the polarized country.
"I was tired to go out in fear, but you know that now I am no longer scared," she said.
Chavez Thursday condemned the murder of Faddoul's sons as abominable. He added that he had also been deeply saddened by the abduction and killing in late March of "a good friend," Italo-Venezuelan businessman Filippo Sindoni, 71.
"We will not rest until this is cleared up and we have dealt with those responsible so that it does not go unpunished. This is an obligation to the country, but we request everyone's support," he said in a televised statement.
The sons of a Lebanese-born Canadian merchant who has lived in Venezuela for more than two decades, the three Faddoul brothers were kidnapped on February 23 by three men wearing police uniforms.
Their bodies were found were found Tuesday in Yare, southwest of Caracas, along with the body of their driver.
The kidnappers had initially sought a five-million-dollar ransom for the boys' release, according to press reports. The sum was cut to less than half that, but the boys were killed before it was paid.
Two members of the Caracas metropolitan police force suspected of involvement in the Faddoul abduction have deserted their posts, the Ultimas Noticias newspaper reported, citing police.
Currently at least 31 people are being held hostage in the country, 21 of them in the state of Tachira, on the border with Colombia.
The woman and her daughters, aged three and eight, were seized early Wednesday in Maturin, the capital of Monagas state, as she drove the girls to school, El Oriental de Maturin newspaper said, citing police officials.
The kidnapping came as protests raged in Caracas over a spate of kidnappings, including the abduction and murder of three Canadian boys and their driver, who were cremated on Thursday.
"My heart is broken and my soul is torn out," said Gladys Diab de Faddoul, the boys' mother after the rite.
Faddoul made slighting references to President Hugo Chavez for not addressing the crimes, but said that her plight had unified the polarized country.
"I was tired to go out in fear, but you know that now I am no longer scared," she said.
Chavez Thursday condemned the murder of Faddoul's sons as abominable. He added that he had also been deeply saddened by the abduction and killing in late March of "a good friend," Italo-Venezuelan businessman Filippo Sindoni, 71.
"We will not rest until this is cleared up and we have dealt with those responsible so that it does not go unpunished. This is an obligation to the country, but we request everyone's support," he said in a televised statement.
The sons of a Lebanese-born Canadian merchant who has lived in Venezuela for more than two decades, the three Faddoul brothers were kidnapped on February 23 by three men wearing police uniforms.
Their bodies were found were found Tuesday in Yare, southwest of Caracas, along with the body of their driver.
The kidnappers had initially sought a five-million-dollar ransom for the boys' release, according to press reports. The sum was cut to less than half that, but the boys were killed before it was paid.
Two members of the Caracas metropolitan police force suspected of involvement in the Faddoul abduction have deserted their posts, the Ultimas Noticias newspaper reported, citing police.
Currently at least 31 people are being held hostage in the country, 21 of them in the state of Tachira, on the border with Colombia.
posted by Marko at 4/07/2006 07:36:00 AM
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