American press misleading, no confession say Aruba police
by Norman 'Gus' Thomas
Caribbean Net News Senior Regional Correspondent
E-mail: rc@caribbeannetnews.com
Monday, June 13, 2005
ORANJESTAD, Aruba: Law enforcement officials
in Aruba are calling recent reports coming out of the USA in relation to the
disappearance of an Alabama teenager as "untrue and misleading." 18-year-old
Natalee Holloway vanished May 29 after leaving an Oranjestad nightclub.
According to US reports, police in Aruba arrested a man on Saturday morning,
after one of a trio that was previously held reportedly told police "something
bad happened to her". CNN's 2:00 pm report on
Saturday stated that a senior police officer had told them that one of the
three men arrested had confessed to killing Halloway.
Aruba police told Caribbean Net News Saturday that they have been
engaged in an unsuccessful island-wide search for Holloway, who had come to
the island with 124 other students from the USA to celebrate their graduation
from Mountain Brook High School.
Caribbean Net News contacted CNN
Headline News in Atlanta who said that they have reporters on the ground in
Aruba and were adamant that they are sticking by their story.
However, officials in Aruba maintain that no confession was made and there has
been no other arrest apart from the five made earlier.
According to one US report, police this morning visited a home on the
outskirts of the capital city of Oranjestad and were later seen coming from
the house with a young man wearing handcuffs, but the Aruba police have also
denied this. However, police did confirm to
Caribbean Net News that, of the arrested trio, two are brothers and
hail from Suriname while the other is a 17-year-old Dutchman who is the son of
a top member of Aruba's legal circle.
When the story first broke, police also
detained two former security guards who have maintained that they are
innocent. They have not been charged and their continued detention has sparked
simmering racial overtones.
Since Halloway's disappearance, island-wide
searches by Aruban police, Dutch marines, the FBI and scores of volunteer
islanders and tourists still continue on a daily basis.
Nelson Oduber, the island's Prime Minister
in speaking on national radio Friday night hinted that he was deeply concerned
over the negative effect the Halloway matter would have on the island's
tourism product and its 97,000 people, who depend heavily on tourism.
Meanwhile, a high court judge flown in from a neighbouring island was due to
convene a "hearing" at 2:00 pm Saturday to determine whether officials can
continue to hold the three suspects in prison without charge as the
investigations continue.
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