Haitian kidnappers demand ransom for missionaries

A Haitian gang that kidnapped a dozen missionaries and five children from a US-based Christian group has demanded $1 million in ransom for each person being held, according to the country's justice minister.

Liszt Quitel told The New York Times on Tuesday that the demand was made to the country chief of Christian Aid Ministries, the Ohio-based organization for which the kidnapped foreign missionaries worked.

"Often, these gangs know these demands cannot be met and they will consider a counter offer from the families, and the negotiations can take a couple of days sometimes, or a couple of weeks," Quitel said.

The kidnapped workers were abducted from Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, on Saturday, as they returned from visiting an orphanage. Sixteen of the group are US citizens, with one Canadian.

The gang hasn't yet set a deadline for when the $17 million ransom must be paid, Quitel said.

Haitian police said that the gang suspected of the abductions is known as 400 Mawozo.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has confirmed that the US is willing to negotiate with the gang to secure the release of the hostages.

"The president has been briefed and is receiving regular updates on what the State Department and the FBI are doing to bring these individuals home safely," Psaki said at a news briefing on Monday. "We can confirm their engagement, and the US embassy in Port-au-Prince is coordinating with local authorities and providing assistance to the families to resolve the situation."

The US government said it has a team in Haiti working in collaboration with the US embassy and the Haitian government to broker the release of the group.

Constant contact

Ned Price, the US State Department spokesman, said that officials have been in constant contact with Haiti's National Police, the missionary group and the victims' relatives.

"This is something that we have treated with the utmost priority since Saturday," Price said.

Christian Aid Ministries was founded in 1981 by members of the Amish and Mennonite sects.

All the kidnap victims are Mennonites, Marcus Yoder, executive director of the Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center in the Ohio town of Berlin, told The Wall Street Journal.

Christian Aid Ministries said the kidnapped group comprises six women and six men, with the five children.

The ministries said the missionaries had most recently been working on rebuilding homes that were lost in the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit southwest Haiti on Aug 14 and killed 2,200 people.

Meanwhile, the country's fuel shortage worsened, with businesses blaming gangs for blocking roads and gas distribution terminals.

Hundreds of motorcycles zoomed through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday as the drivers yelled: "If there's no fuel, we're going to burn it all down!"

One protest took place near the prime minister's residence, where police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd demanding fuel.

Agencies contributed to this story.