Dutch government wo n't pay ransom for kidnap victims .
SAN JOSE , Costa Rica 1996-08-27
The Netherlands government has ruled out paying ransom money for a Dutch couple kidnapped from their farm , while Costa Rican authorities said on Tuesday they had no leads in the case .
" We have not had contact with the kidnappers nor do we have any leads to take us to where they might be held , " Chief of Judicial Police Manuel Alvarado told Reuters .
Hurte Sierd Zylstra and his wife , Jetsi Hendrika Coers , both 50 , were abducted from the teak plantation they managed late Saturday or early Sunday by at least two men demanding $ 1.5 million ransom , authorities said .
Costa Rican officials on Monday had given different names for the couple .
Anton Schutte , an official with the embassy for Belgium , the Netherlands and Luxembourg , said the Dutch government had ruled out paying any money in ransom . "
We 're looking at a criminal act that has no political aspect as far as what we can tell , " Schutte added .
A note with the ransom demand was left in the couple 's car , which was used in the kidnapping , Schutte told a news conference on Monday .
He said the note , believed to have been hand-written in Spanish and signed by the victims , was addressed to Ebe Huizinga , another Dutch citizen who owns the tree plantation . "
Depending on you , we will either live or die , " it said .
Alvarado said the car was abandoned about 40 miles ( 60 km ) north of the couple 's house but said that did not indicate the kidnappers intended to take their victims into neighbouring Nicaragua .
The farm is in the border region where a German tourist and a Swiss tour guide were kidnapped last New Year 's Eve by a heavily armed band led by a former Nicaraguan guerrilla .
The two were held for 71 days until relatives paid a ransom .
Two of the suspected abductors have since been arrested .