Haiti kidnap children freed alive

UN peacekeepers are struggling to control violent gangs

Three children snatched in a Haiti shanty town at the weekend have been freed in a rescue operation.

The son and daughter of a US missionary were kidnapped along with their Haitian foster sister by a gang dressed in police uniforms.

They were rescued by genuine police officers 24 hours later in the Delmas area of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince.

Much of Haiti is enduring a breakdown of law and order, including a wave of kidnappings and violent gun crime.

Hannah Lloyd, aged three, and her elder brother David, five, had been picked up from school by their mother when they were intercepted by a group of men driving a van.

It's been a pretty rough year, but we feel this is where God wants us to be, and we will stay with our mission David Lloyd US missionary

Foster sister Miriam Meinvil, aged seven, was also in the car.

Wielding guns, the men grabbed the children from their car and fled.

Haitian police quickly traced the children's captors, raiding a residential apartment a day after the children were seized.

No-one was harmed during the raid, police said, and seven suspected gang members were arrested.

One of those held was reported to be a former police officer.

Staying on

The children's father, David Lloyd, said he received phone calls demanding ransom payments during the 24 hours the three children were held.

One unidentified caller asked for a payment of $350,000 (£198,000), Mr Lloyd told the Associated Press.

Mr Lloyd, an evangelical minister from Claremore, Oklahoma, runs a charity that cares for 21 Haitian foster children.

He plans to stay in Haiti with his wife, Alicia, who helps run the charity, Mr Lloyd told AP.

"It's been a pretty rough year, but we feel this is where God wants us to be, and we will stay with our mission."

Elections due

Violence linked to poverty and the lack of a strong central government has mushroomed in Haiti since the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.

More than 800 people have died in violence during 2005 despite the presence of 7,000 United Nations troops in the country.

Journalists and foreigners have become targets, with a rash of killings and kidnappings turning much of the capital into a no-go area.

Democratic elections are scheduled for December, but there are fears that flawed polls could prompt fresh violence.