DATE=11/8/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA / HOSTAGE APPEAL TEXT
NUMBER=2-255930
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
///EDS: THE FOLLOWING IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF AN
EXCLUSIVE VOA///
INTRO: Karen Larsen, the wife of Douglas Larsen,
a South African metallurgist missing since
unidentified gunmen attacked the diamond mine
where he was working in northeastern Angola one
year ago today, has issued a statement appealing
for her husband's release and the release of
three other men believed to have been abducted
with him: British geologist Jason Pope and
Filipino mechanics Wilfred Amoges and Roberto
Baptista. Karen Larsen made the following
statement in an (exclusive) interview from her
Cape Town home with V-O-A Johannesburg
Correspondent Alex Belida.
TEXT: (Of Karen Larsen Statement) A year ago
today, I was counting the days until my husband
came home. He had three weeks of his contract in
Angola left. Despite his love for his job and
the country where he had worked for the last 18
months, he was tired and wanted to spend more
time with his family. We were looking forward to
our wedding anniversary and a relaxed Christmas.
We had spoken about this by satellite phone only
two nights before. As I lay sleeping peacefully
in the early hours of that fateful Sunday
morning, I was unaware that the Yetwene diamond
mine where he was working had been attacked by a
group of heavily armed men and that he and nine
of his colleagues were being marched off at
gunpoint into the surrounding jungle.
I was completely unprepared for the nightmare
that would follow as the weeks turned to months
and the months became a year. I thought this
would be over in a couple of weeks, a few months
at the most. Nothing could have prepared any one
of us for this. Although the mine was in a
remote area, I did not believe Doug was in any
real danger. As a wife and a mother I feel so
helpless not knowing what he has had to endure
over the last 12 months. Although not a single
stone has been left unturned, he's still not
home. The uncertainty surrounding his fate has
caused the family an immense amount of heartache
over the last year. All I know is that he was
fully dressed when he was ordered out of his
room.
Although nobody has owned up to having taken him
hostage and no demands have been forthcoming, I
am convinced that he and his colleagues are alive
and that I will see him again. I face each day
with fresh hope because our eleven year old son
is a constant reminder of his father. He has
been the bravest of us all with an unswerving
belief that he will embrace his Daddy again one
day.
Doug is a warm and peace-loving person with the
amazing ability to get on with everyone. I worry
about his health and his mental state and I know
he longs to be with us. Knowing Doug as I do, I
cling to the hope that he is making the best of
the situation he finds himself in and that he
will never give up hope.
I do not understand the complexities of what is
going on in Angola. Nor do I understand why he
is being held captive. He has paid dearly for
being in the wrong place at the wrong time and
this is something he will have to live with for
the rest of his live. He has suffered enough. We
have already spent one Christmas without him.
The thought of facing another is unbearable.
I believe the time has come for whoever is
holding him captive to consider our agony over
the last year and release him as soon as possible
as a gesture of goodwill. There is nothing to be
gained by holding onto him. All I can offer in
exchange is my gratitude for their compassion. I
blame nobody for what happened, I just want him
home where he belongs and this ordeal to end.
I hope that by some miracle Doug hears this
broadcast and that it gives him strength and
renewed hope. We love and miss him dearly.
Jason Pope's mother and I have spent a year
sharing our hopes and fears and drawing strength
from one another. There is no doubt in our minds
that Doug, Jason, Wilfred and Roberto have done
the same thing somewhere deep in the African Bush
and that they will remain friends for life
because of this. (END STATEMENT)
OUTRO: That was an appeal from Karen Larsen, the
wife of Douglas Larsen, who was taken hostage one
year ago in Angola.
NEB/BEL/GE/KL
08-Nov-1999 07:07 AM EDT (08-Nov-1999 1207 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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