Kidnappers release British pair in Congo
TWO British nationals kidnapped after a deadly shoot-out in a Congolese national park on Friday were released unharmed by their kidnappers yesterday afternoon.
Named last night as Bethan Davies and Robert Jesty, the two Britons were freed in circumstances as murky as those of their abduction, nearly 48 hours after they were marched through the jungle following an ambush on their convoy just inside the Virunga National Park. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, announced the release of the pair, but did not disclose whether their freedom had been secured through a rescue operation or negotiations. It was unclear whether a ransom had been paid.
Dr Davies, 29, and Dr Jesty, 28, who were on a gorilla trekking holiday, were treated for “minor injuries” but were otherwise unharmed, a park spokesman said. A statement issued on behalf of the pair, who are believed to work at King’s College Hospital in London, said: “We are very relieved that there has been a positive outcome to the kidnapping and are very grateful for the excellent support we have received. We do not plan to comment further.”
The national park said in a statement: “We can now confirm the release and safe return of passengers and driver who are currently receiving support and medical attention.
“Congolese authorities and senior park staff are working closely with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
for the repatriation of the British nationals.” British diplomats received the tourists in Goma, from where they were to be driven into Rwanda, a Western security source in Goma said.
The pair reportedly share an interest in exotic travel and conservation. They co-authored a medical paper managing disease in intensive care published last month. Dr Davies’s parents also work in medicine, while Dr Jesty’s mother is a retired chaplain and his father a chartered accountant.
A park source said negotiations with the kidnappers had been under way since the early hours of yesterday morning. The kidnappers had initially demanded a ransom of $200,000, later reducing their price to $30,000, a park employee said. The handover of the hostages was personally overseen by Emmanuel de Merode, the Belgian prince who manages the park, and Gilbert Dilis, the park’s security chief, the employee added.
The hostages were driven away from the rendezvous point in taxis after their captors refused to allow the Virunga security team to arrive in park vehicles. The future of tourism in the national park, home to at least a quarter of the world’s 800 or so remaining mountain gorillas, looks increasingly tenuous. The Foreign Office had already warned British nationals against travel to the area because of rising insecurity.
Amid relief over the release, tributes were paid to Rachel Baraka, the 25-year-old ranger who was shot dead in the kidnapping. “We wish to extend our deepest condolences to her family and our sincerest gratitude for her bravery and service to Congo,” Mr de Merode said.
Virunga’s fate is increasingly in the balance. Ugandan Islamist militants, remnants of the extremists behind Rwanda’s genocide in 1994, and other militias who roam the park have carried out deadly attacks in recent months. The violence comes against growing national instability precipitated by the failure of Joseph Kabila, the country’s president, to leave office after his second and final term expired in December 2016.
Congo’s last civil war, fought between 1998 and 2004, drew in half a dozen neighbouring countries and claimed millions of lives.
In peacetime, the park has barely fended off the local warlords seeking to strip it off its valuable timber and the government officials and vested corporate interests seeking to exploit its oil.