Albright Seeks Return of Kidnapped Child

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has vowed to help reunite an Ohio man with his daughter, kidnapped by his estranged wife to Austria five years ago.

Albright's solemn pledge is the first time a senior member of the State Department has promised to intervene in one of the thousands of unsolved parental-kidnapping cases and marks a dramatic departure from its "don't ask" and "don't tell" parents policy.

Albright promised to help Tom Sylvester during a recent House International Relations Committee meeting in Washington after Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Chabot cornered Albright into making the pledge to reunite the father with his daughter, Carina. Under the Hague Convention, Austria's courts have ruled that the daughter should be returned, but Austrian government authorities have refused to enforce the rulings.

"I hope we can count on you for your active help in this matter," Chabot told Albright. "Could you comment, Madam Secretary?"

"Congressman, let me say, as a mother and a grandmother, I am appalled as you are by these kind of things and frustrated.... I will be very happy to look at this personally. And in my discussions with the Austrian government, such as they are at this moment, I will raise that."

Sylvester tells news alert/he is not convinced that Albright will honor her word, but he remains hopeful. Carina was abducted Oct. 30, 1995, when his former wife, Monika, fled with the 13-month-old Carina to her native Austria. In 1996, the Austrian courts ordered the return of the child, but the mother refused. Since then, U.S. authorities and Interpol have issued warrants for his Monika Sylvester's arrest.

Should Albright fail, Chabot has pledged to take the issue to President Clinton who, by law, is supposed to demand the return of any American citizen held against their will in a foreign country.

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