10:20 AM
QUITO, ECUADOR - New Zealand helicopter pilot Dennis Corrin and 9 other foreign oil workers kidnapped from Ecuador's Amazon jungle last week were most likely abducted by common criminals and not Colombian rebels, according to presidential spokesman Alfredo Negrete.
The 10 workers - Mr Corrin plus 5 colleagues from the
US, 2 from France, one from Chile, and one from Argentina - were kidnapped by gunmen at dawn on October 12 from an oil field in the heart of Ecuador's eastern Amazon.
The two Frenchmen managed to escape after flying the kidnappers' stolen helicopter to a river near the Andean nation's northern border with Colombia. They are currently being debriefed by police in Quito.
The remaining eight hostages are still missing and there has been no word from the kidnappers, according to the government.
"As a result of our investigation, the most probable hypothesis is that the kidnapping was perpetrated by a group of criminals from Ecuador, Colombia and perhaps another country," Negrete told reporters.
"Most likely the hostages are in Ecuador, although we cannot discard other possibilities," he said.
Immediately following the kidnapping, Ecuador's Vice President Pedro Pinto and the armed forces blamed Colombia's largest left-wing guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. But FARC leader Joaquin Gomez promptly denied responsibility.
Some analysts suggested Colombian paramilitary or guerrilla units backed the seizure in reaction to anti-narcotics activities carried out by a US Air Force base on Ecuador's coast, while others claimed a group of armed bandits seeking economic gain were responsible.
Negrete said Ecuador's armed forces, national police and the private security companies contracted by oil companies in the Amazon region needed to work together to map out a new plan to bolster safety in the region.
Last year, 12 foreigners working for a Canadian oil firm in the nation's Amazon region were kidnapped by an unidentified group and released unharmed three months later. No one claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
- REUTERS
Herald Online feature: Kidnapped in Ecuador
Map
