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James Richard Cross, CMG (born September 29, 1921, in Ireland) was a British diplomat in Canada who was kidnapped by the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorist group during the October Crisis of October 1970.

Known by his friends as "Jasper", during World War II, Cross served with the British Army and fought for the liberation of France. In 1946 he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers Movement Control Section. After the war he joined the diplomatic service and eventually served as a Trade Commissioner in India; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Kuala Lumpur, before becoming senior Trade Commissioner in Montreal, Quebec.

Cross went on to serve as Under-Secretary in various divisions of the British Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Energy. In 1971, he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). His statements regarding the FLQ Crisis can be found at: http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/collections/BDOHP/Cross.pdf

Kidnapping

On October 5, 1970, Cross was abducted at gunpoint from his British diplomatic residence on Redpath Crescent, on Mount Royal in Montreal and held as a hostage for two months as the FLQ made a series of demands to the Quebec government.^[1] He was released on December 3 in exchange for safe passage for his abductors to Cuba. The talks were held at the site of Expo '67 at St. Helen's Island. The site was declared Cuban territory for the period of the talks.^[2]

Six members of the FLQ's liberation cell were later convicted of Cross's kidnapping when they returned to Canada over time.

Cross said of his kidnapping: "They told me about 10:00 o'clock on Wednesday evening that they had, the police knew where I was. Nothing much happened for about the next four hours. Then the power was cut at I think around 2:00 in the morning. I was in bed at the time; they got me up. They handcuffed me, they took me into a corridor in the middle of the house. They handcuffed me to a doorknob and I spent the night. It's a very uncomfortable position."^[3]

References

1. ^ http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1970/Apollo-13/12303235577467-2/#title "Canadian Kidnappings: 1970 Year in Review, UPI.com"
2. ^ "Canadian Kidnappings: 1970 Year in Review, UPI.com"
3. ^ "Canadian Kidnappings: 1970 Year in Review, UPI.com"

• Account of the kidnapping