10 October 1970: Canadian minister seized by gunmen

Quebec's Labour and Immigration Minister, Pierre Laporte, has been kidnapped. He was seized from his home in Montreal by two men armed with machineguns. The kidnappers are thought to be part of the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), whose goal is independence for French Quebec from Canada. The militant separatists are also holding captive British diplomat James Cross, kidnapped last week. The latest kidnapping took place after the Quebec Government rejected demands from the separatists to release 23 'political' prisoners and a ransom of £208,000. Quebec's Justice Minister Jerome Choquette, speaking on behalf of both the federal and provincial government, addressed the militants in a special radio and TV broadcast. But he also made the unprecedented step of offering the kidnappers safe conduct to any country of their choice in exchange for the safe return of Mr Cross.