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Second Belgian tourist freed
14/09/2007 20:12 - (SA)
Tehran - The second of the two Belgian tourists kidnapped in southeastern Iran last month has been released, Iran's interior ministry website reported on Friday.
Stefaan Boeve, 28, who was kidnapped while travelling through the lawless region in August with his companion Carla Van den Eeckhout, 37, was returned to Iran from Pakistan by the efforts of Iranian security authorities and would be handed over to Belgian authorities soon, said the report without specifying the timing.
The couple was travelling in a private car from the historic city of Bam to Zahedan 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 said at the time.
Van den Eeckhout was released almost immediately on "humanitarian grounds", but it took another month to secure Boeve's freedom
The Iranian government has in the past blamed these kinds of kidnappings on criminals and drug smugglers who inhabit the region known for the historic city of Bam.
Foreign tourists are advised to be cautious while visiting southeastern Iran and since the late 1990s there have been a number of kidnappings of Westerners there.
In the last incident, two Germans and an Irish citizen were kidnapped in 2003 while cycling through the province. They were later freed but no details were released about their liberation.
- AP
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