But there is evidence that its graduates are running kidnap gangs in places like San Pedro Sula, which prey on foreign businessmen.
"Kidnapping is predominantly a money-grab," says Greg Bangs, who runs kidnapping and ransom insurance at Chubb, a New Jersey-based insurer.
The fighter, from Zafaraniya in southern Baghdad, is suspected of having run kidnapping and killing rings, including of local government officials, the American military said.
All factions are said to run kidnapping rackets.
Mr. Belmokhtar, who had broken ranks with the Qaeda group, was believed to have been running a kidnapping and smuggling operation in northern Mali in recent years.
An associate of the president's brother-in-law has been accused of running a kidnapping ring, and there are numerous questions over the distribution of post-earthquake aid and investment.
Paktiawal is suspected of having run a kidnapping ring when he was in an earlier post.
The Silver Bear for Best Direction went to Argentinian stalwart Pablo Trapero for El Clan, a true-crime thriller about a family who run a kidnapping racket: an efficiently nerve-racking piece, but not the best from this respected realist director.
The US was running a global kidnapping programme on the basis of Black's plan and the agreements reached at the Nato meeting.
Emily Blunt plays an F.B.I. agent named Kate Macer, who runs a kidnap-response squad.
