A splinter faction of an insurgent group claimed on Tuesday that it had abducted a Canadian diplomat serving as the United Nations envoy to the country.

An American security consultant who has helped negotiate the release of scores of kidnap victims in Latin America was himself kidnapped last week in northern Mexico.

Kidnappings are a daily occurrence in Mexico. So when a resident of Monterrey or Puebla receives a phone call with news that his son or daughter has been snatched, he has every reason to believe the tale -- especially if anguished screams are audible in the background. Terrified, the parent may readily obey the caller\'s instructions to wire ransom money posthaste or leave a sack of jewelry in a nearby alley. Only later will the victim realize the truth: the abduction was a sham. Such swindles, ...