Word: ransoms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Each year, between 200 and 300 kids are taken in "stereotypical" kidnappings (i.e. grabbed from their homes or playgrounds and then murdered or held for ransom), and 50 to 150 are murdered. Officials expect this year's total number to dip to near 100, hopefully dragging down the murder rate accordingly. And despite what you might reasonably think after hearing the terrible stories of Elizabeth Smart (who was returned safely home more than nine months after her abduction) and Samantha Runnion, the specter of kidnapping by strangers should not be parents' primary concern; parents themselves perpetrate more than 98 percent...
...after the Davao blast, a spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf group called a radio station in Zamboanga to claim responsibility for the attack. Philippine authorities immediately shot his claim down. The home turf of Abu Sayyaf, which specialized in kidnapping-for-ransom before dedicating itself to jihad last year, is far away on the islands of Jolo and Basilan, southwest of Mindanao. Some suspect that the Abu Sayyaf wanted to take the blame to sound more fearsome than it currently is?or to shield the MILF, which is in peace talks with Manila. Those talks are now stalled, intensifying...
...nexus for Southeast Asian terrorists and are providing a training ground for operatives linked to Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network widely blamed for last October's deadly Bali bombings. Officially, the army says it launched last week's operation to pursue a kidnap-for-ransom gang (called the Pentagon) that was being given sanctuary by the MILF. Another goal was to disperse a concentration of 1,000 MILF fighters on the edge of the Liguasan marshes, an expanse of waterways and islands that make up one of the group's few remaining strongholds. Philippine and Western...
...several months Saeed and his co-defendants?who were accused of sending out ransom demands and photos of Pearl in captivity?were the police's only suspects. But in May, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a bus carrying French naval technicians who were hired to work on a Pakistani submarine. The blast killed 11 Frenchmen and three Pakistanis, and it galvanized the Pakistani government into a wider crackdown on militant groups in Karachi. Hundreds of people were arrested, including Karim and Bukhari. Under interrogation, they confessed to helping abduct Pearl, then led police to his body...
...least three Arabs. The first team, which Saeed belonged to, lured Pearl into the trap. The second team of Pakistanis abducted Pearl, guarded him and later buried him. According to Karim, the third team of Arabs called the shots. One warned Pearl's captors not to negotiate a ransom deal on the sly, and told them "Don't leave him alone...