While many are celebrating the release of a Canadian nun and two Italian priests who were held captive for two months in Cameroon, questions are being asked whether ransoms were paid to secure the trio’s sudden release.
Gilberte Bussiere, 74, from Asbestos, Que., was set free over the weekend after being kidnapped in early April along with two Italian priests who had been working as missionaries in Cameroon.
The Congregation de Notre Dame’s Josephine Badali said Monday she spoke with Bussiere early Monday morning and that Bussiere sounded happy and asked Badali to thank everyone who prayed for her and for her freedom. Badali added that Bussiere is planning to return to Canada soon, but it’s not clear when that will be.
At the time of the April abductions, Vatican Radio said it hadn't ruled out the possibility that Boko Haram -- the group behind the kidnapping of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls -- was behind the kidnappings.
The Italian Foreign Ministry has given no details of how the kidnappings ended, but there are reports ransoms may have been paid.
The news agency Agence France-Presse cited an anonymous military source Sunday who said the three hostages were released after "a fee" was paid.
While the report hasn’t been confirmed, counter terrorism expert Michel Juneau-Katsuya says he wouldn’t be surprised if money changed hands to secure the trio’s release, suggesting that governments find ways to work around their policies of refusing to negotiate with terrorists.
“The policy of all western governments is: ‘We don’t negotiate. We don’t pay ransoms’. But, there are maybe different ways to do it, because at the end of the day, it’s someone’s life and you want to be responsible for bringing these people back,” he told CTV’s Canada AM from Ottawa.
Juneau-Katsuya cites, for example, the Wikileaks report that the release of Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler was secured when the Canadian government “contributed” money to Burkina Faso, which then negotiated Fowler’s release on Canada’s behalf.
“If that is true, then the Canadian government was able to say openly, ‘We did not negotiate directly with the kidnappers and we did not pay ransom.’ But in reality, there was a third party involved,” he said.
Bussiere’s release comes as the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama comes under fire for negotiating the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was handed off to U.S. special forces in eastern Afghanistan this weekend, after five years in captivity.
Bergdahl was swapped for five Guantanamo terrorism detainees in a deal that has angered U.S. Republicans who say Washington should not have negotiated with the Taliban and that the deal could place U.S. troops in danger.
Juneau-Katsuya says he rarely agrees with the Republicans, but this time, he believes they’re right.
“Definitely, by changing the policy and accepting prisoner exchanges, the Obama administration has basically painted a target on every foreigner travelling abroad,” he said.
“They’ve signalled that any American soldier or anybody with a certain degree of value might be up for negotiation or a ransom or exchange of one kind or another and that’s extremely troublesome,” he added.
Flash kidnappings of foreigners have become almost a “national sport” in some countries, he said, with kidnappings occurring several times in some countries. Most of the time, Juneau-Katsuya says, it’s not radical nationalists who are behind the abductions, but organized crime members who are simply seeking ransom money.
U.S. officials have acknowledged that the deal to secure Bergdahl’s release could embolden insurgents, but they believed that Bergdahl's safety was in jeopardy and rapid action was needed.
Obama said Saturday the deal was struck because the U.S. "does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind."
With reports from The Canadian Press and the Associated Press
