Colombian President
Urges FARC To Free
Remaining Hostages
Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe called on
the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
to release the rest of
its hostages following
the Colombian army's
rescue of 15 captives.
The Colombian government
still seeks peace as the
army rescued the
hostages, including
former presidential
candidate Ingrid
Betancourt and three
U.S. military advisers,
without firing a single
shot, Uribe emphasized.
The government is not
interested in "spilling
blood", and the rebels
should also take the
"path to peace", he
urged.
The 15 hostages were
rescued in an
"unprecedented"
operation in the
southern Colombian
province of Guaviare.
The helicopter-backed
military operation,
codenamed "Jaque," was
conceived more than one
year ago with
intelligence agents
infiltrating into the
heart of the FARC, said
Defense Minister Juan
Manuel Santos.
The intelligence agents
had managed to convince
the rebel commander in
charge of the hostages
that they were going to
take the hostages to
Alfonso Cano, the
guerrillas' supreme
leader.
The captives, divided
into three groups, were
taken to a rendezvous
before being flown away
by two disguised
helicopters piloted by
Colombian military
agents, said Santos.
The hostages did not
realize they had been
freed until the
disguised militants told
them they were "National
Army".
The operation, without
the exchange of fire or
causing any casualties,
"will go down in history
for its audacity and
effectiveness," added
Santos.
Betancourt, who was
captured in February
2002 during a
presidential campaign,
said her rescue by the
Colombian army "is a
signal of peace for
Colombia."
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