ECUADOR: ECUADOREAN AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCE THAT TEN FOREIGN OIL WORKERS KIDNAPPED EARLIER THIS MONTH WERE PROBABLY ABDUCTED BY COMMON CRIMINALS

Record ID: 344857

  • Title: ECUADOR: ECUADOREAN AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCE THAT TEN FOREIGN OIL WORKERS KIDNAPPED EARLIER THIS MONTH WERE PROBABLY ABDUCTED BY COMMON CRIMINALS
  • Date: 19th October 2000
  • Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR. (OCTOBER 19, 2000) (REUTERS ACCESS ALL) 1. SV: REUTERS TELEVISION CREW CHASING AFTER FRENCH KIDNAPPING VICTIM THAT ESCAPED, BOARDS A TAXI CAB 0.18 2. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN ALFREDO NEGRETE SAYING: "As a result of our investigation, the most probable hypothesis is that the kidnapping was perpetrated by a group of criminals from Ecuador, Colombia and perhaps another country." 0.27 3. TRACK: FRENCH KIDNAPPING VICTIM THAT ESCAPED ARGUING WITH REUTERS PRODUCER, WALKING TOWARDS FRENCH EMBASSY IN QUITO / FRENCH KIDNAPPING VICTIM PUSHES OUR CAMERAMAN, WOMAN YELLING IN FRENCH FOR REPORTERS TO STOP 0.56 4. VARIOUS OF FRENCH KIDNAPPING VICTIM CROSSING STREET AND ENTERING FRENCH EMBASSY (2 SHOTS) 1.19 5. SLV: EXTERIOR OF FRENCH EMBASSY 1.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2000 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: QUITO, ECUADOR
  • Country: Ecuador
  • Reuters ID: LVA7O2SOZO42W9TXFEEMHMTZ7X4V
  • Story Text: Ecuadorean authorities have announced that ten oil
    workers kidnapped earlier this month were probably abducted by
    common criminals instead of Colombian Marxist rebels as
    previously thought.



    Ten foreign oil workers kidnapped from Ecuador's
    Amazon jungle last week were most likely abducted by common
    criminals and not Colombian guerrillas, presidential spokesman
    Alfredo Negrete said on Thursday(October 19).

    The 10 workers -- five from the U.S., two from France,
    a New Zealander, Chilean and Argentine -- were kidnapped by
    gunmen at dawn on Oct. 12 from an oil field in the heart of
    Ecuador's eastern Amazon run by Spanish-Argentine oil giant
    Repsol-YPF REP.MC>.

    The two Frenchmen managed to escape after flying the
    kidnappers' stolen helicopter to a river near the Andean
    nation's northern border with Colombia. They are currently
    being debriefed by police in Quito.

    One of the Frenchmen was seen on Thursday (October 19)
    heading towards the French embassy in Quito. At one point,
    trying to avoid reporters, he pushed the cameraman and
    insisted that he stop filming.

    Eight hostages are still missing and there has been no
    word from the kidnappers, according to the government.

    "As a result of our investigation, the most probable
    hypothesis is that the kidnapping was perpetrated by a group
    of criminals from Ecuador, Colombia and perhaps another
    country," Negrete told reporters.

    A senior U.S. diplomat in Colombia, Phillip Chicola, said
    Colombia's leading Marxist rebel group is not believed to have
    played a role in the kidnapping.

    Immediately following the kidnapping, Ecuador's Vice
    President Pedro Pinto and the armed forces pointed the finger
    at Colombia's largest left-wing guerrilla group, the
    Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. But FARC leader
    Joaquin Gomez promptly denied responsibility.

    Some analysts suggested Colombian paramilitary or
    guerrilla units backed the seizure in reaction to
    anti-narcotics activities carried out by a U.S. Air Force base
    on Ecuador's coast, while others claimed a group of armed
    bandits seeking economic gain were responsible.

    Negrete said Ecuador's armed forces, national police and
    the private security companies contracted by oil companies in
    the Amazon region needed to work together to map out a new
    plan to bolster safety in the region.

    Last year, 12 foreigners working for a Canadian oil firm
    in the nation's Amazon region were kidnapped by an
    unidentified group and released unharmed three months later.

    No one claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.


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