People gather in front of the San Francisco Federal Building on Friday to protest against the US' arbitrary deportation of thousands of Haitian refugees, which started on September 19. US special envoy for Haiti Daniel Foote resigned after the "inhumane, counter-productive" move. Photo: cnsphoto

A Haitian gang that kidnapped a group of American and Canadian missionaries is asking for $17 million - or $1 million each - to release them, according to a top Haitian official.

Justice Minister Liszt Quitel told Reuters that talks were under way with kidnappers to seek the release of the missionaries abducted over the weekend outside the capital, Port-au-Prince, by a gang called 400 Mawozo.

The minister confirmed the ransom fee, telling Reuters: "They asked for $1 million per person." The fee was first reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier in the day.

CNN reported earlier on Tuesday the kidnappers first called Christian Aid Ministries - the group to which the victims belonged - on Saturday and immediately conveyed the price tag for the missionaries' release. The FBI and Haitian police were advising the group in negotiations, the minister said.

Several calls between the kidnappers and the missionary group have taken place since their disappearance, the minister told CNN.

The Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries called for prayers for the "Haitian and American civil authorities who are working to resolve this situation."

Among the 16 Americans and one Canadian are five children, including an 8-month-old baby, the missionary organization said. 

The US government is "relentlessly focused" on the kidnapping and in constant communication with Haitian police and the missionaries' church, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told journalists in Quito, where he met with that country's president and foreign minister.

Reuters