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HOSTAGES

Hostages safe in Paris armed robbery

Several people taken hostage Friday evening in a Paris travel agency were released safe and sound, police said, but the armed robber who seized them was on the run.

Published: 2 December 2016 20:01 CET
Hostages safe in Paris armed robbery
Photo: AFP

“Armed robbery on Massena Boulevard in Paris: operation over,” police tweeted. “Six people have left. The thief is not on the premises.”

Other police sources said seven hostages had been “found safe and sound “after the hold-up at the travel agency in the Chinatown area of southern Paris' 13th arrondissement.

The incident sparked a major police operation in the French capital, where security jitters remain high after a string of terrorist attacks over the last two years, including the November 2015 Paris attacks which left 132 people dead.

Police set up a security perimeter around the Asieland travel agency, which specialises in Asian travel.

Drivers were warned to stay away from the area. Police sources told AFP earlier that the robber was armed with a handgun.

The agency sits in Paris' 13th arrondissement, a residential area that is packed with Asian restaurants and is home to a large Chinese community.

The ground-floor offices sit at the base of a large residential tower block and next to one of Paris' main tram lines.

The robber had attacked the company at around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT), trapping several people inside.

The hostages were let out around two and a half hours later, “their hands on their heads”, a police source said, adding that they were “taken into the care of emergency services in a neighbouring building”.

Police then searched the building and realised the attacker had fled the scene.

“We saw four or five people coming out with their hands on their heads, followed by around 15 officers,” local resident Zinedine told AFP.

“There was no shooting, we heard no explosion. It's over,” said the 55-year-old, who had left home to buy cigarettes.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo thanked police for their “speed and professionalism” on Twitter, adding: “I offer all my support to the staff and customers of the agency that were confronted with this criminal act.”

The capital is under tight security, with troops patrolling the streets daily, under a state of emergency imposed by President Francois Hollande after last year's Paris attacks.

The hold-up in Chinatown comes at a time of heightened safety concerns among Paris' large Chinese community following a fatal attack on a tailor in August and a series of muggings.

More than 10,000 Chinese Parisians staged a protest march in September calling for increased security for the community following the killing of Zhang Chaolin, beaten to death during a robbery.

Photo: GoogleMaps

 

LIBYA

‘No ransom paid’ to free Italian hostages in Libya

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has denied paying ransoms for the release of two Italians kidnapped in Libya last July.

Published: 9 March 2016 12:42 CET
'No ransom paid' to free Italian hostages in Libya
Gino Pollicardo (C) and Filippo Calcagno (R), two Italians kidnapped last July in Libya, are welcomed by Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni (L). Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Gentiloni  told the Senate on Wednesday that no ransom was paid for Gino Pollicardo, 55, and Filippo Calcagno, 65, who arrived back in Italy on Sunday.

They were among four employees of the Italian construction firm, Bonatti, kidnapped in the Millitah region, west of Tripoli.

The other two – Salvatore Failla, 47, and Fausto Piano, 60 – were killed on Thursday in clashes between jihadists and militiamen.

Calcagno and Pollicardo, who had been separated from their colleagues, managed to set themselves free on Friday after Calcagno loosened the lock of a door using a nail.

He told reporters from his home in Sicily on Sunday that the door eventually opened after several attempts.

“It was not easy,” he told Sky TG24.

“But I worked a lot on that door. I understood that you can do many things with a nail.”

After the lock was loosened, Pollicardo, from Liguria, helped to kick the door down. They then found a second door, which was unlocked, and walked out onto the street.

Calcagno said the four colleagues were separated on March 1st, with captors indicating that a deal had been reached.

“We were told it was over,” he said, adding that the men had endured “beatings, thirst and hunger” during almost nine months in captivity. 

“Failla and Piano were taken away while we remained inside.”

Italian media reports said Piano and Failla had been in an Isis group convoy that was attacked by militiamen from Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn), the armed wing of the non-recognized government based in Tripoli.

But Gentiloni said there was no evidence that Isis was involved in the abduction, adding that “the most probable hypothesis” is that pro-Islamist criminal groups operating between Mellita, Zuwara and Sabratha were behind the kidnapping.

He also downplayed reports that Italy was readying to take part in an international mission against Isis militants in Libya, saying that Italy would only get involved if requested to by Libya, and with the approval of Italy’s parliament.

“We need to avoid Libya sinking into chaos where tragic episodes like this one involving our hostages can proliferate,” he said earlier this week.

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