Gang leader threatens to kill hostages

PORT-AU-PRINCE: The leader of a Haitian gang who kidnapped a group of North Americans over the weekend has threatened to execute them, according to video seen by Agence France-Presse.

The footage shot on Wednesday but released on Thursday on social media showed Wilson Joseph, wearing a suit and surrounded by armed men, in front of coffins containing the bodies of five members of his gang.

“Since I’m not getting what I need, I’ll kill these Americans,” the gang leader said, speaking in Haitian Creole.

A senior US official speaking on condition of anonymity said the video appeared to be genuine.

“As far as I know, the video that appeared online today is legitimate,” the official told reporters late on Thursday. “We are in contact with the Christian Aid Missionaries. We are in contact constantly with Haitian National Police. The FBI is on the ground in Haiti and in contact with all the parties involved.”

The kidnappers are demanding US$17 million (566 million baht) ransom for the hostages’ freedom, security sources have said.

On Oct 16, the group of 17 US and Canadian missionaries and their children were kidnapped in broad daylight while on a visit to an orphanage in the heart of an area in eastern Portau-Prince, which is under control of the gang.

The Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, to which the abducted missionaries belong, said the group included 12 adults aged 18-48, along with five children aged eight months, three, six, 13 and 15.

The United States has advised Americans not to travel to Haiti due to kidnappings they say regularly include US citizens.

Since December 2020, Haitian police have sought Mr Joseph for crimes including assassination, kidnapping, vehicle theft and hijacking of cargo trucks.

Meanwhile, on Thursday motortaxi drivers blocked roads and snared traffic in the Haitian capital to protest against fuel shortages caused by gangs controlling oil access. Across the city, demonstrators have voiced outrage over being forced to buy petrol on the black market.

Gangs’ tightening grip on Port-auPrince since June has prevented secure access to two of Haiti’s three oil terminals. Armed groups hijacked more than a dozen tankers at the third, located in the Cite Soleil slum, in early September.

Against the backdrop of growing gang influence, Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced late on Thursday the appointment of a new police chief, Frantz Elbe, after the resignation of his predecessor Leon Charles.