Two Britons kidnapped in Democratic Republic of Congo 'relieved' to be released unharmed

Two British nationals released following their kidnap in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday have been named as Bethan Davies and Robert Jesty.

A statement issued on behalf of Ms Davies and Mr Jesty said: "We are very relieved that there has been a positive outcome to the kidnapping and are very grateful for the excellent support we have received. We do not plan to comment further." 

Nearly 48 hours after they were forcibly marched through the jungle following an ambush on their convoy just inside the Virunga National Park, the two Britons were freed in circumstances as murky as those of their abduction.

Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, announced the release of the pair, who have still not been named, but did not disclose whether their freedom had been secured through a rescue operation or negotiations.

The Britons, who were about to begin a gorilla trekking holiday, were treated for “minor injuries” but were otherwise unharmed, a park spokesman said. 

“We can now confirm the release and safe return of passengers and driver who are currently receiving support and medical attention,” Virunga National Park said in a statement.

“Congolese authorities and senior park staff are working closely with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the repatriation of the British nationals.”

British diplomats received the tourists in the Congolese border city of Goma before they were due to be driven into Rwanda, a Western security source in Goma said.

Amid relief over the release, tributes were paid to Rachel Baraka, the 25-year-old ranger who was shot dead as she tried to protect the tourists.

Mr Johnson said his thoughts were with her family, while Emmanuel de Merode, the Belgian prince who manages the park, also paid tribute.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of Virunga National Park Ranger Baraka, whose life was tragically cut short whilst protecting the passengers and driver,” he said. 

“We wish to extend our deepest condolences to her family and our sincerest gratitude for her bravery and service to Congo.”

The identity of the attackers remains unknown. The Virunga National Park, where 176 rangers have been killed in the past 20 years, is regarded as one of the most dangerous in the world.

A dozen militia groups use the park’s 3,000 sq miles of thick forest and savanna as a hideout and launching pad to carry out attacks on villages and towns on the periphery of the reserve.

The Virunga National Park said it was still investigating the identity of the attackers. 

It refused officially to be drawn on the manner in which the release of the hostages was secured, but a park source said negotiations with the kidnappers had been underway since the early hours of Sunday morning.

After initially seeking a ransom of USD 200,000, the kidnappers reduced their demand to USD 30,000, a park employee said on condition of anonymity. It was unclear if a ransom was paid.

The hand over of the hostages was personally overseen by Mr de Merode, who does not use his title, and the park’s security chief, Gilbert Dilis, the employee added.

The hostages were away from the rendezvous point in taxis after their captors refused to allow the Virunga security team to arrive in park vehicles.

Although the kidnapping was resolved quickly and without further loss of life, the future of tourism in the national park — home to at least a quarter of the world’s 800 or so remaining mountain gorillas — looks increasingly tenuous.

The Foreign Office had already warned British nationals against undertaking any travel to the area because of rising insecurity and the few tour groups willing to ignore that advice are now understood to be reviewing future trips.

Despite the risks, heightened by growing volatility in a country many consider on the brink of a new civil war, tourism has survived in Virunga, with interest peaked by the release in 2014 of an Oscar-nominated British documentary on the park.

Mr de Merode and his 800 rangers, whose efforts to save the park from myriad threats have had improbable success, had won praise for the security structures they had put in place to protect tourists.

Until Friday’s incident, no significant attack had been launched on tourists in the park for nearly 20 years, despite scores of attacks on rangers and Congolese nationals living in or driving through the park, which hugs the Rwandan and Ugandan borders.

Whether or not there was a degree of inevitability about the kidnappings, as some Congo-watchers have suggested, Virunga’s fate is increasingly in the balance. 

Ugandan Islamist militants, remnants of the extremists behind Rwanda’s genocide in 1994 and other militias who roam the park have carried increasingly deadly attacks in recent months.

The violence comes against growing national instability precipitated by the failure of the country’s president, Joseph Kabila, to leave office after his second and final term expired in December, 2016.

Congo’s last civil war, fought between 1998 and 2004, drew in half a dozen neighbouring countries and claimed millions of lives, mainly through conflict related starvation and disease. 

In peacetime, the Virunga National Park has barely fended off the local warlords and gangsters seeking to strip it off its valuable timber or the government officials and vested corporate interests seeking to exploit its oil. 

Renewed war could make the Mr de Merode’s efforts to conserve one of the last great habitats of the mountain gorilla all but impossible.