fair use...

Link

Alabama Woman Says Her Husband Kidnapped in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) - An Alabama man was kidnapped for ransom in Afghanistan while delivering medical supplies last week, his wife told government officials.

The woman reported the abduction to the State Department and the office of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., a longtime friend. A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the report is being investigated but would not identify the man because of privacy laws.

Rick Dykema, Rohrabacher's chief of staff, identified the man as Clark Russell Bowers, 37, of Harvest, Ala. He said he spoke to Bowers' wife on Monday.

"We put his wife in touch with the proper authorities and we understand that they are following up," Dykema said Tuesday.

"We had no independent information on what he was doing" in Afghanistan," Dykema said. "He had been there before and we were told he was trying to deliver humanitarian supplies. We didn't even know of this trip until after his wife called."

Another Rohrabacher aide, Al Santoli, said Bowers visited the congressman's office last fall and Rohrabacher warned him not to go to Afghanistan. "He's a thrill-seeker in a war zone," said Santoli, the congressman's national security adviser.

The Los Angeles Times said Bowers called his wife, Amanda Bowers, from Afghanistan last Wednesday to report he had been stopped by a group of Afghans and robbed of his belongings, including cash and a satellite phone. The group took him and his interpreter hostage and demanded a ransom, she said.

Mrs. Bowers told The Birmingham (Ala.) News the kidnappers demanded $25,000. She said her husband called her Monday and gave instructions for arranging payment.

"He was actually very calm," Mrs. Bowers said.

Bowers has been to Afghanistan twice since Sept. 11, his wife said. Both times he was delivering medical supplies and other humanitarian aid paid for through private donations. She said her husband went to the country on his own to help the Afghan people.

Mrs. Bowers said her husband is a political consultant who attended and played basketball at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

Bowers has known Rohrabacher for years and volunteered on one of his congressional campaigns, Rohrabacher aides said.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002