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Red Cross to deliver ransom By Melissa Martin GOLD HILL � The International Red Cross will assist in the exchange when Erickson Air-Crane and the oil companies pay the ransom for the release of seven employees this weekend, according to sources in Ecuador. Kidnappers demanded the participation of the relief organization, El Comercio newspaper reported in today�s editions. It�s unknown when the three Gold Hill men among the hostages will return to the Rogue Valley. Meanwhile, waiting quietly and prayerfully, friends of the hostages created a Web site (soshostages.com) Thursday to provide information about the plight of Arnold Alford, 41, Steve Derry, 40, and Jason Weber, 29, who are helicopter mechanics for Erickson Air-Crane. "We want to continue to awaken Americans and the world to what�s going on," said Shayne Maxwell, Web site designer, Gold Hill real estate agent and friend of the Derry family. Rumors that the hostages were en route to the United States circulated Thursday among some media members gathering in Southern Oregon to await their return. Several Portland television stations brought satellite trucks to the Rogue Valley to cover the hostage story and The New York Times sent a reporter based in Seattle. ABC�s "20-20" program inquired from New York about the crisis. But the hostages remained in Ecuador Thursday, a state department spokesman said. "The most important thing is that they get home," said Christopher Lamora, spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Department of State. "We�re keeping our fingers crossed." A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Quito, Ecuador, said she has read news accounts about the $11 million settlement that Erickson Air-Crane and two other companies reportedly reached with the kidnappers. But she could neither confirm nor deny the reports. "We continue to work closely with the government of Ecuador, the oil companies, with the family of the American hostages, as well as the governments of the other hostages� countries, to resolve this," said Susan Crystal, cultural attach�. The kidnappers� demand that the International Red Cross assist in the exchange of money for men would not be an unusual role for the humanitarian organization, a local spokeswoman said. The Red Cross, which provides relief to victims of natural disasters, hunger, poverty and violence around the world, would be the neutral party. "The Red Cross can go in to make sure the hostages are being treated fairly and being fed," said Marge Jameson, executive director of the Rogue Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. "During the war in Bosnia, when we had soldiers that were captured, the Red Cross went in to make sure they were being treated fairly and to take messages in and out." It�s unknown whether Red Cross workers have been involved with the hostage crisis that began Oct. 12 when armed gunmen captured 10 foreigners working in an oil field in Ecuador near the Colombia border. Two Frenchmen escaped soon after and on Jan. 31, kidnappers killed American Ronald Sanders. Besides Derry, Weber and Alford, the hostages include Erickson Air-Crane employee Dennis Corrin of New Zealand, an Argentine and a Chilean. Erickson Air-Crane is a Central Point-based company that builds and operates heavy-lift helicopters. News of the negotiations has been scarce and difficult to obtain, according to Vice Adm. Miguel Saona, chief of the high military command in Ecuador. He told Reuters news service, "Information has come to us out of an eye dropper." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.