An Israeli businessman has been kidnapped by gunmen in the West African nation of Ghana, the second such abduction this year. On August 26, Ra'anana engineer Ehud Avni was kidnapped in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt and held for nearly a week before being released in exchange for a ransom paid to his captors.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi confirmed the incident on Friday and said that the businessman's partner, also an Israeli, had informed authorities of the kidnapping. Since Israel has no embassy in Ghana, officials from the Israeli Embassy in Nigeria are working together with the Foreign Ministry to secure the man's release. His partner is reportedly also involved in the negotiations.
The identity of the businessman, who is in his sixties, is being withheld, said Levi, who added his "hope that media will be restrained and very cautious in the way they cover this, because it might be harmful to him."
Initially the kidnappers demanded a half million dollar ransom, but subsequently lowered it to $300,000.
"Negotiations are taking place," said Levi, "but so far there is no happy end." He said that the businessman's family has been kept informed of developments. He emphasized that the Foreign Ministry is maintain a low profile on the matter and asking the media to do the same.
Ghana, the first African nation to achieve independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, is an English-speaking country. Its exports include gold, timber, cocoa, diamonds and minerals, but its domestic economy is based primarily on subsistence agriculture by small landholders, employing some 85 percent of its work force.
Israel has several bilateral agreements with the West African nation, among them a cultural agreement (1973), a trade agreement (1968) and an agreement for technical cooperation (1962).
