News In Brief
| Colombo, Sri Lanka
US couple kidnapped by terrorists in Sri Lanka
Kidnappers of an Ohio couple renewed a threat Sunday to kill the pair unless the Sri Lankan government pays $2 million in gold and releases 20 fellow Tamil separatists from jail, a top official said.
Sri Lanka's national security minister also announced that a US government antiterrorist squad was coming to Sri Lanka to help hunt down the kidnappers.
The newlywed couple, Stanley and Mary Allen, of Columbus, Ohio, were kidnapped Friday in the city of Jaffna, a Tamil stronghold.
Mr. Allen worked in Jaffna on water projects funded by the US Agency for International Development. The kidnappers accused the couple of spying for the CIA.
