See the recovery efforts in Gaza as ceasefire appears to hold 'Is everything I'm trying to do pointless? ': Syrians helpless in face of 'sham' election Brother of journalist detained in Myanmar says family is hopeful Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs Residents stand near stalls along a road amidst debris while strong winds batter Balasore district in Odisha state on May 26, 2021 as Cyclone Yaas barrels towards India's eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP) (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images) France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame speak as they walk in the grounds of The Presidential Palace in Kigali on May 27, 2021, after their press conference and prior to their official luncheon. - French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Rwanda on May 27, 2021, for a highly symbolic visit aimed at moving on from three decades of diplomatic tensions over France's role in the 1994 genocide in the country. Macron is the first French leader since 2010 to visit the East African nation, which has long accused France of complicity in the killing of some 800,000 mostly Tutsi Rwandans. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images) Relative of detained Iranian-Americans fears they will not survive (CNN) — American tourist Kimberly Sue Endicott and her tour guide, who were abducted in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park on Tuesday, have been rescued by security forces, a Ugandan government spokesperson said Sunday. “Both were rescued from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are safely back in Kanungu district in Uganda,” said Ofwono Opondo. “They are back at the lodge and she is expected to be in Kampala tomorrow.” Police & its sister security agencies have today rescued Ms.Kimberley Sue, an American tourist together with her guide who were kidnapped while on an evening game drive at Queen Elizabeth National park.The duo are in good health & in the safe hands of the joint security team. — Uganda Police Force (@PoliceUg) April 7, 2019 Opondo said the kidnappers fled the scene of the rescue when law enforcement officers and soldiers moved in. Ugandan police had said Thursday that an armed gang kidnapped Endicott and her driver at gunpoint from the national park and had made frequent demands for a $500,000 ransom. Police had said they would not offer the money. A ransom was paid to free Endicott and her guide, a source with knowledge of the exchange told CNN on Sunday. The handover was “quiet and peaceful,” the source said. A spokesperson with Wild Frontiers Uganda, the company Endicott toured with, said neither Endicott nor her tour guide were harmed. The spokesperson said the identities of the alleged kidnappers have not been revealed. The two were abducted at gunpoint while on a game drive on Tuesday evening, the Ugandan Tourism Board and Ugandan police said in a statement. Four other people were taken at the same time, but they were freed while Endicott and her driver were taken from the park, officials said. The State Department said it was aware of the rescue. “We are aware of reports that a US citizen hostage was recovered on April 7 by Ugandan security officials,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN. “Privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further at this time.” A US defense official told CNN that the US military had provided support to Ugandan security forces. The support included intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets and liaison officers, the official said. President Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that he was “pleased to report” the two have been released. “God bless them and their families,” Trump said on Twitter. CNN’s Hilary McGann, Samson Ntale and Bukola Adebayo, Robyn Kriel, Ryan Browne and Anna Cardovillis contributed to this report.<doc-sep>American tourist Kimberly Sue Endicott and her tour guide, who were ambushed and kidnapped Tuesday in Uganda, have been rescued and are in good health, Ugandan authorities said Sunday. The country’s government and police announced their rescue by security forces on Twitter without addressing whether a ransom was paid. "The duo are in good health & in the safe hands of the joint security team,'' the Ugandan police tweeted. The kidnappers fled the scene when security forces moved in, according to media reports. Endicott, from Southern California, was visiting Queen Elizabeth National Park alongside Congolese guide Jean Paul Mirenge when they were abducted at gunpoint by four men who used her cellphone to contact authorities and demand a $500,000 ransom, Ugandan police said. Endicott and Mirenge were on an evening safari with a Canadian couple when the gunmen accosted their vehicle, taking the first two and robbing the 78-year-old Canadians but leaving them behind. They notified the camp manager, who rescued them. An massive search-and-rescue effort was launched after the ambush and kidnapping. President Donald Trump was among those hailing the safe release of Endicott and Mirenge, tweeting, "God bless them and their families!'' It was not known whether a ransom was paid or by whom, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said the American government does not pay ransom for its citizens. At a Tuesday event for families of U.S. citizens held captive overseas, before news of Endicott's abduction was out, Pompeo said he understands relatives' anguish but that paying ransom would just lead to more kidnappings. The State Department released a statement Friday saying, “Whenever a U.S. citizen is taken captive abroad, we work tirelessly – in partnership with local authorities – to secure their release and get them home safely.” More:American woman kidnapped in Uganda; $500K ransom demanded Police said Endicott, who owns a small skin-care shop in Orange County, arrived in Uganda on March 29 and on the next day flew to the park, a sprawling wildlife refuge more than 200 miles west of the capital city of Kampala. Queen Elizabeth Park is known as Uganda’s most popular tourist destination and is generally regarded as safe, but the western edge borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to several rebel groups. Last year two British tourists and their driver were kidnapped in the Virunga National Park across the border in Congo. They were released two days later. Contributing: John Bacon and Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY; The Associated Press<doc-sep>
An Orange County woman and her driver, kidnapped last week at gunpoint by a group of men in a Uganda national park, have been rescued from their captors, authorities said Sunday. Kimberly Sue Endicott, 56, an aesthetician from Costa Mesa, and her driver, Congolese national Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, were rescued by security forces, the Ugandan government tweeted. No other details about their rescue were available. “The duo are in good health & in the safe hands of the joint security team,” the Uganda police said on social media. Their kidnappers used Endicott’s cellphone to demand a $500,000 ransom, but it was unknown whether any money was paid or if the abductors had been arrested. Endicott was traveling in a car on an evening game drive with Remezo and two other tourists in the national park Tuesday when four men held them at gunpoint. The other tourists, an elderly couple, escaped, but the gunmen took Endicott and Remezo, said Uganda deputy police spokeswoman Polly Namaye. The tour vehicle, which belongs to Wild Frontiers Uganda, was left parked and the kidnappers took the key, Namaye said. Pam Lopez, who met Endicott through her work as an aesthetician, said it was her friend’s lifelong dream to go on safari in Africa to see gorillas. Lopez had been following Endicott’s trip through photos her friend posted on Instagram. One image showed four armed soldiers who were guarding the group. Ugandan police said Wednesday that they had dispatched an elite group of police officers, military personnel and wildlife authority officials to assist in the search. The park’s Ishasha Wilderness Camp area, where the ambush occurred, is a popular tourist destination close to the border with Congo. Joint security teams cut off all exit areas on the border between Uganda and Congo to search for Endicott and the tour guide. President Trump tweeted about Endicott and her driver’s release Sunday afternoon. “Pleased to report that the American tourist and tour guide that were abducted in Uganda have been released,” he said in the tweet. “God bless them and their families.” Uganda recorded a surge in kidnapping cases last year, prompting street protests by activists who said security agencies weren’t doing enough to protect residents. Officials recently emphasized, however, that it was unusual for a tourist to be kidnapped in Uganda, which has a thriving tourism industry stemming from its wildlife and national parks. The head of Uganda’s ministry of information and communications technology, Frank Tumwebaze, tweeted Sunday that the country is “very safe border to border.” “Our parks have been the most secure zones over the years and they remain so,” Tumwebaze wrote, adding that isolated criminal incidents like this one “can happen anywhere in the world.” The northern part of the park remains open to tourists, but the U.S. Embassy has warned Americans in the area to be careful. Endicott, who has had an aesthetician’s license since 1998, runs a skin care business in Costa Mesa. A review from a customer posted on the business’ website highlighted Endicott’s professional talent and described her as a “wonderful and caring person.”