KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (ABP) – A kidnapped aid worker from a Baptist background and her Afghan driver are believed dead, according to the agency that supported them.
Cydney Mizell, 50, and Muhammad Hadi, whose age is unknown, were taken at gunpoint Jan. 26 while working in Kandahar, Afghanistan. While their employer, the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation (ARLDF), has not been able to confirm their deaths, a spokeswoman said the organization has received “credible reports” of the news.
Mizell and Hadi were abducted together in a residential neighborhood while on their way to work. No suspects have been named in the case, and a Taliban spokesman told the Associated Press he could neither confirm nor deny his group's involvement in the kidnapping.
A statement from George and Peggy Mizell, Cyd Mizell's parents, said they were “heartbroken” to receive news of the apparent death of their daughter and Hadi.
“While these reports remain unconfirmed, we are beginning to accept that the hoped-for outcome may no longer be possible,” the Feb. 28 statement said.
Mizell was an English teacher at Kandahar University and taught embroidery lessons at a school for girls. She also helped women start projects to generate income for their families, according to the foundation's website.
The initial capture sparked a rare protest by more than 500 Afghan women, who asked local officials to find the pair. The 90-minute demonstration included prayers and speeches calling on government leaders — or the captors — to act, according to reports.
Rumors that a Baptist aid worker had been kidnapped in Afghanistan spread around the Internet in the days following Mizell's disappearance. The overwhelmingly Muslim country does not allow Christian missionaries, and several Christian aid workers have been murdered there in recent months.
“Cyd knew before she went to Afghanistan that it could be a dangerous place, but she went because she loved the Afghan people and dedicated her life to serving them,” George Mizell said in the statement. “We are trying to understand why someone would kill a gentle, caring person who came to their country to help the poor. Many of the people of Kandahar came to love her almost as much as we loved her, and all of us share her loss.”
A Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary graduate, Cyd Mizell also briefly attended Baptist-related Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. Both schools released press statements noting her disappearance.
She spoke Pashtu fluently and was wearing a burqa when she was captured, according to ARLDF. The California native was not accompanied by any form of armed guard when she was taken.
Hadi, also known as Abdul, had worked as an ARLDF driver for two years. Updates from the group described the father of five as “quiet and unassuming but very protective of the employees he works with.” His family had received daily visits and support during the crisis, foundation officials said.
Hostage-taking in Afghanistan has increased in recent years. In the last year alone, 23 Christian aid workers from South Korea, two German construction workers and two Italian journalists were kidnapped. Two of the South Koreans were killed. Many foreign governments end up paying ransoms to free citizens kidnapped in Afghanistan.
Citing security reasons, ARLDF spokespeople declined requests for interviews about the case. But, according to a Jan. 29 statement from ARLDF International Director Jeff Palmer, Mizell was the first worker from the organization to be taken hostage.
“She loves the people of Afghanistan, and she has devoted her life to meeting their needs and helping them rebuild their nation, which has experienced violence and suffering for many years,” Palmer said.
According to ARLDF's website, the group is a non-profit organization that works with the poor in 12 Asian countries. It supports food-for-work projects, development of irrigation systems and rehabilitation and health-care centers.
ARLDF was founded by a Baptist organization with ties to the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board. Representatives from the IMB have said there is no relationship between their organization and ARLDF.
However, Palmer, in addition to serving as ARLDF's international director, also is the executive director of Baptist Global Response, which is run by Southern Baptists. According to a Dec. 12, 2007, article by Baptist Press, the SBC's news division, Baptist Global Response contracts with the International Mission Board to administer SBC world-hunger funds. The denomination's president, Frank Page, sits on the Baptist Global Response board of directors.
According to an April 10, 1997, BP story, the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center, led at the time by Palmer, launched ARLDF, which Palmer heads, in 1988.
According to BP, Baptist Global Response is headquartered in Singapore with an office in Nashville, Tenn., where the SBC is headquartered.
ARLDF representatives, citing a fear for Mizell's life if news of her abduction appeared in Christian news outlets, requested that those organizations refrain from reporting on it. Several, including Associated Baptist Press, agreed to hold the news until her fate was determined.
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— Greg Warner and Robert Marus contributed to this story.