Ex-Hostage in Russia Is Flown to Geneva
A French U.N. official kidnapped in southern Russia who was freed Saturday arrived in Geneva from Moscow for an emotional reunion with his family. His father said his release was “the best Christmas present we could have had.”
Vincent Cochetel, 37, who headed the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in North Ossetia, was seized by three masked gunmen in the republic’s capital, Vladikavkaz, on Jan. 29.
Cochetel was freed in an operation conducted by the Russian Interior Ministry and the regional security forces of the north Caucasus, Russian news agencies said.
He was flown from Vladikavkaz, where he was believed to have been held, to Moscow and then on to Geneva aboard a plane sent by French President Jacques Chirac.
Cochetel was met at the Cointrin airport by his wife, Florence; Sadako Ogata, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees; the French and Russian ambassadors; his parents; and his two brothers and sister.
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