DATE=11/8/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ANGOLA / HOSTAGE APPEAL (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255929
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The wife of a South African metallurgist
missing since unknown gunmen attacked the diamond
mine where he was working in northeastern Angola
one year ago has issued an impassioned appeal for
the release of her husband and three other men
believed to have been abducted with him. V-O-A
Johannesburg Correspondent Alex Belida has our
(exclusive) report.
TEXT: One year ago, Karen Larsen says, she was
counting the days until her husband, 48 year old
Douglas Larsen, returned to their Cape Town home
at the end of his 18 month contact job at the
Yetwene diamond mine in remote northeastern
Angola.
But early on the morning of November 8th last
year, armed men attacked the mine. At least
eight people, including two Britons and a
Portuguese contract worker, died in the attack.
Four others - including Mr. Larsen - disappeared
and are presumed to have been taken captive.
Nothing has been heard about the fate of the
missing men since then. For Mrs. Larsen and her
11-year-old son, the past year has been a
nightmare.
/// LARSEN ACTUALITY ///
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.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
No one knows for sure who abducted Douglas
Larsen, British geologist Jason Pope and Filipino
mechanics Wilfred Amoges and Roberto Baptista.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack
and no demands have been made for the release of
the men who were seized. The trade publication
"Mining Journal" said at the time of the attack
the gunmen wore clothing associated not only
with the UNITA rebel movement but also with local
military and police units.
In a statement to the Voice of America, Mrs.
Larsen says she does not understand why her
husband was seized. She just wants him freed.
/// LARSEN ACTUALITY ///
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. I have nothing to
offer his captors in exchange, only my gratitude
for their compassion. I blame nobody for what
happened, I just want him home where he belongs
and this ordeal to end.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
Mrs. Larsen says she hopes her husband is somehow
able to hear of her appeal and that it gives him
strength and renewed hope. She says she is
convinced he and his colleagues are alive and
that some day she will see him again. (Signed)
NEB/BEL/GE/KL
08-Nov-1999 06:44 AM EDT (08-Nov-1999 1144 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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