International

Haitian gang leaders charged for kidnapping of US citizens

Photo: NBC News

| By AFP |

The United States on Monday unsealed criminal charges against Haitian gang leaders involved in the kidnappings of Americans and offered up to $3 million for their capture.

Three of the seven Haitians indicted are accused of involvement in the 2021 kidnapping of 16 Christian missionaries and their families near Port-au-Prince.

Lanmo Sanjou, 29, Jermaine Stephenson, in his late 20s, and Vitel’homme Innocent, 36, are charged with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking.

Sanjou and Stephenson are allegedly leaders of the 400 Mawozo gang, while Innocent was described as a leader of the Kraze Barye gang.

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The Justice Department offered a $1 million reward for the capture of each of the three men, who are believed to be in Haiti.

Five of the hostages were released, and the rest escaped in December 2021 after being held for two months.

Jean Pelice, an alleged member of the 400 Mawozo gang, was brought to the United States in May to face charges in connection with the kidnapping.

Another alleged 400 Mawozo leader, Joly Germine, has also been extradited to the United States to face charges for his role in the hostage-taking.

Charges were also announced on Monday against four other Haitian gang leaders for the kidnappings of five other US citizens in Haiti.

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The victims were released after ransoms were paid.

“The charges unsealed today are a reminder of the FBI’s ability to reach criminal actors overseas when crimes are committed against US citizens,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

“The FBI, with our federal and international partners, will continue to pursue anyone who targets Americans for hostage-taking or other violent crimes -– wherever they are.”

The UN Security Council last month agreed unanimously on a sanctions regime targeting the gangs terrorizing the population in Haiti.

After failing to reach consensus on sending an international force to the crisis-hit nation, members adopted a resolution directly targeting the gangs that have seized control of the main port and blocked fuel deliveries.

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The United States last week imposed sanctions on two top Haitian politicians, former Senate President Joseph Lambert and former senator Youri Latortue, accusing them of being longtime drug traffickers.

International

Football Fan Killed in Clashes After Colombian League Match

Fans of Cúcuta Deportivo and their traditional rivals Atlético Bucaramanga clashed outside the stadium following their local league match on Tuesday, leaving one supporter dead and several others injured.

The deceased fan was stabbed, according to a senior police official in Cúcuta who confirmed the cause of death in a video statement. Local media reported that the victim was a supporter of the visiting team, Atlético Bucaramanga.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Authorities had banned the entry of Atlético Bucaramanga’s organized supporters into the stadium in an effort to prevent disturbances.

Despite the restrictions, violence broke out in the surrounding areas after the game. Among the injured were three police officers, an institutional source told AFP.

The incident adds to a series of recent violent episodes linked to Colombian football. The most recent occurred in December, when supporters of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín clashed in the stands and on the pitch, leaving 59 people injured.

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International

Missing Spanish Sailor Rescued After 11 Days Adrift in Mediterranean

The man had departed from the port of Gandía, on Spain’s eastern coast, with the intention of reaching the southern Spanish town of Guardamar del Segura, a journey of about 150 kilometers, a spokesperson for Spain’s maritime rescue service told AFP.

Search boats and aircraft were deployed on January 17, but the operation was called off on January 22 after efforts proved unsuccessful. Alerts were then issued to vessels navigating the area in case they spotted any signs of the missing sailor.

As hopes were fading, a surveillance aircraft from the European Union’s border agency Frontex spotted the sailboat on Tuesday, along with a person signaling for help, approximately 53 nautical miles northeast of Bejaia, Algeria.

A nearby vessel, the Singapore-flagged bulk carrier Thor Confidence, carried out the rescue and is expected to bring the man to an end to his ordeal when it arrives on Thursday in the southern Spanish port city of Algeciras.

Maritime rescue services shared images on social media showing a small white sailboat drifting at sea and secured alongside the much larger ship.

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It remains unclear how the sailboat ended up hundreds of kilometers off its intended route or how the man managed to survive for so long alone in open waters.

International

Rubio Says U.S. Could Participate in Follow-Up Russia-Ukraine Talks

The United States could join a new round of talks this week aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Teams from Kyiv and Moscow met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi in their first publicly acknowledged direct negotiations to discuss the peace initiative promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

“They are going to hold follow-up talks again this week,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There could be U.S. participation.”

However, Rubio suggested that Washington’s role may be more limited than during last week’s discussions, which included Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The secretary of state indicated that progress may have already been made on security guarantees for Ukraine, one of Kyiv’s key demands in any agreement with Moscow after nearly four years of Russian invasion.

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“There is one remaining issue that everyone is familiar with, and that is the territorial claim over Donetsk,” Rubio said, referring to the eastern Ukrainian region that Russia wants Ukraine to cede.

“I know that active efforts are underway to see whether the positions of both sides on this issue can be reconciled. It remains a bridge we have not yet crossed,” he added during the hearing.

Rubio acknowledged that the territorial question would be particularly difficult for Ukraine to resolve.