An American YouTube star who was kidnapped by a gang in Haiti for 17 days said he was freed after paying a ransom, but was then unable to leave the country because he was detained again.

Adisson Pierre Maalouf, who is known as “YourFellowArab” and has 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube, said he travelled to Haiti to interview gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier but was seized, along with his Haitian fixer, by a rival gang. It cost him about US$50,000 (RM237,800) in ransom and stolen equipment to secure his release.