US expert on kidnappings abducted in Mexico

Mexico City, Dec 16 (DPA) A US expert on kidnappings was himself abducted in the northern Mexican town of Saltillo, after delivering a series of conferences on security, Mexican media reported Monday.

The abduction reportedly happened Wednesday.

Felix Batista, 55, a Cuban-American resident of Miami, was apparently abducted by an armed commando when he left a restaurant following a telephone call.

'There was no violence at all in this, he is an expert,' Coahuila Public Security Minister Fausto Destenave Kuri was quoted as saying in the Saltillo daily Vanguardia.

Batista had travelled to Coahuila on Dec 6 and delivered two talks to business leaders on security for companies.

In September, he had taken part in the Latin American Congress on Banking Security in Mexico City.

According to his resume, Batista is a former intelligence officer in the US Army with 25 years as an advisor and speaker in matters of personal and corporative safety and crisis management.

He is said to have handled some 300 cases of extortion and 99 kidnappings.