Kidnapped Relative Released

A businessman who is the father of the Honduran government’s deputy defense minister was released Tuesday by his kidnappers and is safe and sound, the National Police said.

Alfredo Jalil, father of Gabo Jalil, had been kidnapped on Oct. 27th.

“They set him free north of Tegucigalpa at about 5:40 a.m.,” National Police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said.

Alfredo Jalil was forced to get out of his vehicle as he was leaving his residence in an upscale residential area of the Honduran capital. There was concern about the health of the 81-year-old retired businessman, who suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes, Cerrato said.

Jalil was “visibly in good health condition” when he was released, the police spokesman said.

The kidnapping was thought to be linked to the political crisis unleashed by the June 28th events that ousted President Mel Zelaya, since the victim’s son is a member of the Honduran government, and his wife, Gloria Mejia, called on the deposed head of state to order her husband’s release.

Jalil’s kidnapping, moreover, occurred just days after the killings in separate incidents of Col. Concepcion Jimenez and a nephew of President Roberto Micheletti. Gabo Jalil is a lawmaker who took a leave of absence to work for the government led by Micheletti, who Congress designated as president after Zelaya’s ouster.

Alfredo Jalil’s kidnapping, however, was the work of “organized crime,” the National Police spokesman said.

Two suspected gang members were arrested last week in connection with Jimenez’s murder and investigators are looking at the possibility that auto theft was involved, while no one has been arrested in connection with Enzo Micheletti’s murder.

Enzo Micheletti’s body was found Oct. 26th along with that of another young man in the northern town of Choloma. The 24-year-old Enzo was the son of Roberto Micheletti’s late brother, Antonio.


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