WORLD : Kidnaped Israeli Gold Dealer Found

JERUSALEM — An Israeli gold dealer who was abducted at knifepoint while collecting debts in the occupied West Bank was found alive today at the bottom of a dry well where he had been held by kidnapers during the two-day ordeal.

Shaul Mishani, 45, had gone to the West Bank city of Tulkarm late Wednesday to collect money owed to him by other gold dealers and was attacked as he was leaving the area in a taxi. Two masked men armed with knives and screwdrivers blindfolded Mishani and left the area with him on foot.

Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, captured one suspect Thursday, and today he led them to the well where Mishani was kept in the nearby village of Abush. It was not clear whether the abduction was politically motivated.