Word: ransome
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...oldest sons and three grandchildren. The Shi'ite family lived in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of al-Dora in southern Baghdad up until the peak of sectarian violence in late 2006. That was when Mehdi's youngest son Ali, then 4, was kidnapped by insurgents and held for ransom for more than a week. After paying to get him back, the family left all their furniture and belongings and fled to Karrada, a safer neighborhood in central Baghdad. "The people who kidnapped our son were from our neighborhood," says Mehdi's widow Iman Kadhem, 48. "Now they have taken over...
...with much interest that i read Jack White's article on Nigerians' blighted hopes ((NIGERIA, Sept. 6)). In particular the reference to the U.S. government's ''quietly warning businessmen to beware of scams in which executives are lured to Nigeria . . . only to be kidnapped and held for ransom'' caught my attention. In fact, we would like our warnings to be much more public. Too many U.S. businesses and individuals have lost tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and at least one businessman has lost his life. Yet the volume and variety of these scams remain overwhelming...
...nobody to replace him [as a go-between]. That's why we believe the organization is so weak. If we push it more, maybe we can finally eliminate it." Abu Sayyaf members are now said to be so cash-strapped they have turned again to kidnapping civilians for ransom. In January, suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen killed a priest during a botched kidnapping on Tawi Tawi Island, not far from Jolo. On June 8 Ces Drilon, a well-known local TV-news anchor, vanished with her cameraman and an assistant near Jolo in what appears to be another Abu Sayyaf abduction...
...they were military. After the demise of Colombian drug cartel bosses like Pedro Escobar, the FARC stepped into the vacuum and earned hundreds of millions of dollars each year protecting traffickers as well as the growers of coca, cocaine's raw material. The guerrillas earned just as much via ransom kidnapping - they're estimated to hold more than 700 Colombian army, police and civilian hostages today, including three U.S. defense contractors whom the FARC abducted...
...North Korea’s (HRiNK) Awareness Week. Unfortunately, Choi’s moment of joy passed quickly. Choi had been held against his will by a man who had convinced him to travel with him to see Choi’s mother. Instead, Choi was held for a ransom of $50,000. It was only after the customers at his exiled mother’s restaurant in South Korea raised $30,000 that the man released Choi, allowing him to travel to South Korea to be with his mother. Choi, who is now a high school student...