Iran reports second captive released

17 August 2007

TEHRAN (AP) – The second of the two Belgian tourists kidnapped in southeastern Iran over the weekend has also been released, the Iranian state television reported Thursday.

The TV, which cited an unnamed official in the Kerman province where the two went missing, gave no timing of the release. The immediate whereabouts of the couple were not known.

The two, identified as Carla Van den Eeckhout, 37, and Stefaan Boeve, 28, went missing while travelling from the city of Bam to Zahedan, in an area where Westerners have been kidnapped before.

They were travelling in a private car when 15 heavily armed bandits kidnapped them and took them to the mountains. One of the kidnappers wanted to exchange the hostages for his brother, who is imprisoned in Tehran, the Belgian foreign ministry had said.

Iranian authorities reported Wednesday that Den Eeckhout had been released but that the Boeve remained captive. The foreign ministry in Brussels said the couple were in good health and were treated well by their kidnappers.

The Iranian government has blamed these kind of kidnappings in the past on criminals and drug smugglers who inhabit the lawless region also known for the historic city of Bam.

Subject: Belgian news