HAVANA, Dec.3 (Xinhuanet) -- A Haitian journalist and his father were released on Saturday by a group of gunmen in the country after kidnappers settled for a lower-than-expected amount of ransom, according to reports from Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti.

    Wadson Desir, a journalist for radio Metropole and a contributor to Radio France Internationale, was kidnapped on Friday along with his father while driving on the main road heading north of the capital.

    The Desirs' release had been negotiated by Joseph Guyler Delva,who heads the Haitian association SOS journalists, who persuaded the kidnappers to lower the ransom from 80,000 US dollars to 4,500dollars.

    Fellow journalists had pooled money for the ransom.

    On the same day, an American missionary was released amid a wave of abductions in Haiti ahead of next month's national elections.

    The country has seen a surge in violent clashes and kidnappingssince former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in an armed revolt in February 2004.

    More than 1,000 people have been kidnapped for ransom in the country since March, police say.

    More than 7,000 UN peacekeepers and international police are currently stationed in Haiti to help keep public order, as delayed elections to replace the interim government are now slated for January. Enditem