ECUADOR: FOREIGN OIL WORKERS TAKEN HOSTAGE MORE THAN FOUR MONTHS AGO BY REBEL GROUP ARE RELEASED FOR RANSOM MONEY

Record ID: 345000

  • Title: ECUADOR: FOREIGN OIL WORKERS TAKEN HOSTAGE MORE THAN FOUR MONTHS AGO BY REBEL GROUP ARE RELEASED FOR RANSOM MONEY
  • Date: 3rd March 2001
  • Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR. (MARCH 01, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SLV EXTERIOR OF HANGAR WHERE AIRCRAFT CARRYING KIDNAP VICTIMS WILL ARRIVE; SLV VEHICLES FROM VARIOUS EMBASSIES ARRIVING, INCLUDING CAR FROM THE CHILEAN EMBASSY (MERCEDES BENZ); SLV PLANE ARRIVING; MV SECURITY (4 SHOTS) 0.42 2. SLV PLANE ON RUNWAY; SLV PLANE PULLING UP TO HANGAR ZOOM OUT (3 SHOTS) 1.11 3. MV RELEASED HOSTAGES DISEMBARKING PRIVATE PLANE (HEAVY BEARDS AND SOME ARE WEARING CAMOUFLAGE) 1.35 4. MV HEAVY SECURITY, HOSTAGES AND EMBASSY OFFICIALS NEAR PLANE; SLV HOSTAGES WALKING TOWARDS BUS THAT WILL TRANSPORT THEM TO HOTEL; SLV BUS PULLING AWAY, HOSTAGES INSIDE BUS (5 SHOTS) 2.25 5. SCU CHILEAN HOSTAGE HOLDING CHILEAN FLAG WAVING TO MEDIA 2.42 6. TRACKING SHOT MOTORCADE HEADING TOWARDS HOTEL 2.50 7. MV SECURITY SURROUNDING BUS, HOSTAGES DISEMBARKING BUS, ENTERING HOTEL; HOSTAGES SURROUNDED BY SECURITY, SECURITY CLOSES GATE 3.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 18th March 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: QUITO, ECUADOR
  • Country: Ecuador
  • Reuters ID: LVAESR6OMS2FBDQAHDCOQ3U7NNA2
  • Story Text: Seven foreign oil workers taken hostage more than four
    months ago by an unidentified armed group in the jungles of
    Ecuador have arrived to a Quito hotel after their captors
    received a ransom of $13 million.

    Seven foreign oil workers held hostage in Ecuador's
    Amazon jungle region for 4-1/2 months by an unidentified armed
    group were freed on Thursday (March 01), one week after their
    employers paid a $13 million ransom.

    "The seven oil technicians kidnapped last October are
    free," the government said in a statement, adding it had not
    been involved in the negotiations.

    Four U.S. citizens, a New Zealander, an Argentine and a
    Chilean were released near Lago Agrio, 190 miles (305 km) east
    of Quito near the Colombian border and had made contact with
    their employers, a source close to the employers told Reuters.

    A military source close to the investigation said the U.S.

    citizens were generally in good physical condition despite
    suffering from minor ailments. No information was immediately
    available on the other three
    Two French helicopter pilots escaped a few days after the
    kidnapping. U.S. citizen Ron Sander was shot dead a month ago
    when the companies, including Helmerich & Payne, Erickson Air
    Crane and Schlumberger Ltd., failed to meet an earlier ransom
    demand.

    The military source said the freed hostages would checked
    by doctors and debriefed at Lago Agrio.

    The seven were part of a group of 10 foreign workers
    abducted from a Repsol-YPF oil field in Ecuador's central
    Amazon region in October.

    A police spokesman Wednesday (February 28) said a ransom
    was paid for the release of the foreigners. Local media
    estimated the amount at $13 million and said the money was
    flown in by helicopter in denominations of $100 bills at the
    kidnappers' request.

    No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping --
    the second in Ecuador in a year in the oil-rich jungle that
    borders Colombia's coca-growing Putumayo region.

    However, sources close to the investigation told Reuters
    on Thursday the 20-man strong group that abducted the
    foreigners was believed to be a faction of Colombia's National
    Liberation Army (ELN) called "Free America" that is supported
    by more than a dozen Ecuadoreans who live in the area.

    According to the sources, the group was also responsible
    for the kidnapping of 12 Canadian oil workers in 1999 as well
    as for bombing the the nation's only crude oil pipeline in
    December, killing civilians traveling on a bus through the area.

    An article published Thursday in Quito's El Comercio
    newspaper cited an FBI report linking the armed group to
    Colombia's Popular Liberation Army (EPL).

    Ecuador, a nation of 12.4 million people, initially
    accused Colombia's biggest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary
    Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), of the kidnapping, but FARC
    leaders immediately denied involvement.

    The government later retracted the accusation and attributed the act
    to common criminals, probably from Ecuador and Colombia.

    The Ecuadorean army detained seven men two weeks ago
    accused of supplying the kidnappers with food and medical
    provisions. The suspects are currently under policy custody in
    Quito.


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