Thursday, May 5 2005 09:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Port-Au-Prince: Gangs have kidnapped an Indian and a Russian in Haiti, the UN peacekeeping mission in the troubled Caribbean State said.

The Russian male, who worked as a contractor helping the UN force, and the Indian businessman, were both seized, said Damien Anses Cardona, a spokesman for the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (Minustah) yesterday (May 4, 2005).

They are the first foreigners to be kidnapped in Port-Au-Prince since the former Government of President Jean Bertrand Aristide collapsed in February 2004.

A ransom is being asked for the Russian by unknown kidnappers, said Cardona.

The UN troops are "not involved directly in talks," he said.

Yesterday, a Haitian schoolteacher was also seized.

Sporadic acts of violence have continued to mar Haiti since Aristide fled into exile.

Also Haitian business leaders issued a statement calling for "different sectors of the population to mobilize in the face of mounting insecurity".