Rotterdam, Netherlands
Dutch aid worker Arjan Erkel was released this week, bearded and frail, after being held captive for more than a year and a half in Dagestan, a Russian province bordering Chechnya. Erkel was head of operations in the region for Doctors Without Borders, a group that has been harshly critical of the Kremlin’s policies in Chechnya. The agency and many Western diplomats were convinced that the Kremlin was complicit in the kidnapping. After fruitless attempts at negotiation, Doctors Without Borders last month took out ads openly accusing the Kremlin. Erkel was then freed under mysterious circumstances. Arriving at the Rotterdam airport this week, Erkel kissed the ground and thanked the aid group “for getting me out of that nightmare.” The Russians blamed the kidnapping on gangsters.
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