By Samuel Elijah
COTONOU (Reuters) - Voodoo priests cried out in tongues andmade sacrificial offerings on Wednesday, imploring God and theancestors to help free French-Colombian hostage IngridBetancourt from the hands of Colombia's FARC rebels.
The ritual by initiates in Benin, the West African home ofthe ancient religion, was part of a three-day programme offasting and prayer decreed by President Thomas Yayi Boni forBetancourt, who has been held hostage since 2002.
"May the love and mercy of God touch the hearts of thosewho do not yet understand, so they may know that to harmsomeone is to harm oneself," voodoo high priest Dah Aligbononsaid as initiates offered up sacrifices of cowrie shells andcow's milk.
Some initiates cried out in unintelligible tongues.
The ceremony omitted the bloody sacrifices of chickens orother animals which characterise many voodoo rituals, "becausewe are begging the souls of the ancestors that forgiveness mayreign in the hearts of men," Aligbonon said.
Christians and Muslims have also held prayer sessions sinceBoni made his appeal on Monday in a rare foray into globalaffairs for a small, poor country that rarely makes headlinesabroad.
"Nobody who hopes for any lasting prosperity can or shouldremain indifferent to the drama now unfolding in the jungle ofColombia," Boni said in a statement on Monday.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Benin's formercolonial power and a key donor, says Betancourt is ill andclose to death and has made it a priority to secure herrelease.
The 46-year-old French-Colombian citizen was kidnappedwhile campaigning for the Colombian presidency.
Betancourt, three Americans and politicians, police andsoldiers are among 40 political captives whom the FARC says itwants to exchange for jailed fighters. The guerrillas andgovernment are deadlocked over a hostage deal.
A French medical team called off a mission deep into thejungle to try to obtain Betancourt's release on Tuesday afterFARC rebels rejected the overture. But French Foreign MinisterBernard Kouchner vowed to find another way to help her.
Aligbonon said differences of geography and race were noobstacle to Benin's intercessions on Betancourt's behalf.
"Ingrid Betancourt is a creature just like us, even if herskin is different. We make no distinction between men: we areall the same," he said.
Centuries ago Benin was known as the Slave Coast due to themany Africans shipped in chains from its shores to theAmericas. Some took with them their voodoo beliefs, whichsurvive in different forms in Caribbean countries like Haitiand Cuba.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com)
(Writing by Alistair Thomson, editing by Mary Gabriel)
